Particle.news

Download on the App Store

Texas Ramps Screwworm Surveillance as Mexico Tightens Livestock Rules Near Border

A confirmed Nuevo León case near Texas is prompting expanded trapping to keep the parasite out of U.S. herds.

Overview

  • Mexico’s meat chamber criticized new government measures restricting livestock movement and an ivermectin requirement, arguing sterile-fly releases are the proven eradication tool.
  • A Mexican government notice dated September 19 mandates ivermectin be administered 72 hours before cattle are moved under regional inspectors’ supervision, a step industry says will slow shipments.
  • Texas will place tape traps at high‑risk border zones, export pens in Brownsville, Del Rio, El Paso, Laredo and Houston, and port regions near Galveston and Corpus Christi, with weekly checks and USDA testing.
  • U.S. efforts include training detector dogs and a previously announced $750 million facility in Texas to mass‑produce sterile flies that suppress wild screwworm populations.
  • No U.S. livestock cases have been confirmed; the U.S. has largely halted cattle imports from Mexico since May, and New Mexico officials are preparing response plans and producer guidance in case of an incursion.