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2d ago

U.S. Halts Live Livestock Imports from Mexico Over Screwworm Threat

The USDA imposed an immediate 15-day suspension of live cattle, horse, and bison imports, citing insufficient progress in containment efforts as the pest advances northward.

Cattle are held in a corral before being exported to the United States through the Jeronimo-Santa Teresa border crossing after U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced an agreement with Mexico on the management of the New World screwworm at the Chihuahua Regional Livestock Union facility, outside Ciudad Juarez, Mexico April 29, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo
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Left; Tusk-like mandibles jutting from the New World screwworm larva's mouth; right, cattle are detained in the pens at the Jeronimo-Santa Teresa border crossing in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico in November after the U.S. temporarily stopped imports of Mexican cattle due to the presence of screwworm. Photo: John Kucharski/USDA; Christian Torres/Anadolu via Getty Images
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Overview

  • The USDA announced a suspension of live livestock imports from Mexico at southern border ports due to the threat of New World screwworm.
  • The suspension, effective immediately, will last for 15 days and be reassessed on a month-by-month basis.
  • New World screwworm, a parasitic fly that infests and kills livestock, was recently detected in Oaxaca and Veracruz, approximately 700 miles from the U.S. border.
  • U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins emphasized the pest’s devastating potential, referencing a past outbreak that took 30 years for the U.S. cattle industry to recover from.
  • The decision has drawn opposition from Mexico’s Agriculture Secretary Julio Berdegue, who expressed disagreement but called for continued bilateral negotiations to address the issue.