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6d ago

US Closes Southern Border Livestock Ports Following Screwworm Resurgence

Reopening of livestock ports is on hold until Mexico demonstrates effective screwworm control in Veracruz.

A worker drops New World screwworm fly larvae into a tray at a facility that breeds sterile flies in Pacora, Panama.
A photo from 1960 shows US workers preparing sterile flies for dispersal.
Animal health worker Eduardo Lugo treats the wounds of a cow at the Chihuahua Regional Livestock Union in Nuevo Palomas, Mexico.
The adult fly form of the New World screwworm has a blue-green metallic exoskeleton.

Overview

  • Secretary Rollins ordered the immediate closure of cattle, bison and horse imports through southern ports after SENASICA reported a New World Screwworm case in Ixhuatlan de Madero, Veracruz.
  • The new detection occurred about 370 miles south of the US border and 160 miles north of the existing sterile‐fly barrier, undermining the July 7–September 15 phased reopening plan.
  • USDA has paused its risk‐based port reopening schedule and is intensifying binational containment with quarantines, enhanced surveillance and trapping in Mexican control zones.
  • The department is accelerating the construction and design of sterile‐fly production facilities in South Texas and Mexico to bolster eradication efforts and maintain a pest‐free barrier.
  • Mexico exported just over one million head of cattle to the United States in 2024, highlighting the economic impact of the ongoing trade suspension.