The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service had announced plans to slowly reopen the southern border for livestock starting July 7 in Douglas, Arizona, and open more entries one by one through Sept. 5. However, a new case of New World screwworm led U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins to pause the reopening and shut off all points of entry from Mexico to fully control the spread of this insect. 

According to USDA, on July 8, Mexico’s National Service of Agro-Alimentary Health, Safety, and Quality reported a new case of NWS in Ixhuatlan de Madero, Veracruz in Mexico, which is approximately 160 miles northward of the current sterile fly dispersal grid, on the eastern side of the country and 370 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border.  

“The United States has promised to be vigilant—and after detecting this new NWS case, we are pausing the planned port reopening’s to further quarantine and target this deadly pest in Mexico,” Rollins said in a press release. 

“We must see additional progress combatting NWS in Veracruz and other nearby Mexican states in order to reopen livestock ports along the Southern border,” Rollins said. “Thanks to the aggressive monitoring by USDA staff in the U.S. and in Mexico, we have been able to take quick and decisive action to respond to the spread of this deadly pest.” 

Apart from the Rollins’ Bold Plan to Combat New World Screwworm, which was launched in June, USDA also announced the groundbreaking of a sterile fly dispersal facility at Moore Air Base in South Texas. This facility will combat NWS at the southern border or flies that could already be in the U.S.—although none have been reported so far. USDA is focused on border states, including Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, to prevent NWS from expanding into those areas that are closest to the Mexico border and moving into other parts of the U.S. 

According to the USDA press release, officials will continue to monitor and visit the Mexican inspection checkpoints to ensure the Mexican government has adequate protocols in place to detect and report any new cases of NWS promptly to ensure this dangerous pest is contained and does not reach the U.S. beef supply.  

Source - https://hpj.com