Overview

• The USDA has suspended imports of live cattle, horses, and bison from Mexico effective immediately, citing the continued spread of New World Screwworm (NWS).
• Recent detections of NWS in Oaxaca and Veracruz, approximately 700 miles from the US border, prompted the decision to reassess containment efforts.
• The suspension will be reviewed on a month-by-month basis until significant containment progress is achieved, with daily collaboration between US and Mexican officials.
• The USDA is deploying sterile fly releases and Tick Riders to monitor livestock and wildlife along the southern border to prevent further northward spread.
• This outbreak threatens the US agricultural sector, which previously took decades and billions of dollars to recover from a similar infestation eradicated in 1966.