Overview

• Health and Human Services said the CDC and Maryland health officials confirmed the parasite on Aug. 4 in a patient who had returned from El Salvador, and reported no U.S. animal cases this year.
• Industry communications described the traveler as coming from Guatemala, creating a reporting discrepancy that federal officials have not resolved publicly.
• USDA is expanding the sterile-fly program, including a planned facility at Texas’ Moore Air Base, to counter a capacity gap as the Panama plant produces about 100 million flies weekly versus an estimated 500 million needed.
• The U.S. has tightened controls on live-animal imports from Mexico and boosted surveillance, while Mexico is building a $51 million sterile-fly plant after cases reached Veracruz roughly 370 miles from the Texas border.
• HHS authorized FDA emergency use of animal drugs for screwworm, and USDA estimates a Texas outbreak could cost about $1.8 billion, heightening market sensitivity in an already tight cattle sector.