USDA does not expect to resume Mexico cattle imports before holidays, chief veterinary officer says.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture late on Friday walked back comments that it could resume imports of Mexican cattle before year-end holidays, after it suspended shipments last month due to the discovery of New World screwworm in Mexico.
The agency also said it approved a second round of emergency funding to block the flesh-eating livestock pest from entering the United States.
Thought this was a spoof. Never heard of it, but it’s real.
When NWS fly larvae (maggots) burrow into the flesh of a living animal, they cause serious, often deadly damage to the animal. NWS can infest livestock, pets, wildlife, occasionally birds, and in rare cases, people.
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/cattle/ticks/screwworm
A Parasite That Eats Cattle Alive Is Creeping North Toward the US
For decades, the screwworm was eliminated in North America, but containment efforts in Panama have failed. Now cattle smugglers are helping the parasite advance north.
The finding in Mexico follows the recent reappearance of the parasite in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala. In the face of the reemergence of the parasite, Mexico is intensifying sanitary measures—calling for the treatment of wounds in livestock, larvicide baths, and deworming of cattle—and has introduced inspection stations like the one that discovered the case in Chiapas. But conservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Mexican ranchers warn that the illegal cattle trade will be the real gateway for the disease to enter North America.
https://www.wired.com/story/a-parasite-that-eats-cattle-alive-is-creeping-north-toward-the-us/
The parasite was last eradicated from the United States in 1966, with costly efforts by federal and state animal health officials, livestock producers and veterinary practitioners. Eradication efforts have continued in Central America, but the pest is considered endemic in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and South America.
One NWS female fly can lay 200-300 eggs at a time and may lay up to 3,000 eggs during her lifespan.
https://texasfarmbureau.org/new-world-screwworm-confirmed-in-mexico/
h/t KeepIt