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U.S. Maintains Ban on Mexican Livestock as Screwworm Cases Exceed 2,250

The USDA is ramping up sterile-fly releases to curb a flesh-eating parasite threatening Mexico’s $1.2 billion cattle export industry.

Veterinarians examine cattle at a ranch that supplies livestock for export to the U.S., in Zamora, northern Mexico, July 28, 2025, as the U.S. border remains closed to Mexican cattle imports because of screwworm concerns. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Martín Ibarra Vargas points to his corrals at his small ranch in Hermosillo, Sonora state, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Flies of various species sit stuck in a trap near the pens of an auction in Hermosillo, Sonora state, Mexico, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Overview

  • The U.S. has suspended live cattle, horse and bison imports from Mexico since July following fresh screwworm detections roughly 700 miles north of the border.
  • More than 2,258 infestations have been confirmed in southern Mexico as of early August, triggering intensified binational surveillance and quarantine measures.
  • USDA is expanding production and release of sterile Cochliomyia hominivorax flies from retrofitted facilities in Mexico and Texas to break the pest’s breeding cycle.
  • A two-year drought has already cut Mexico’s cattle inventory by about 2%, and ranchers have shipped under 200,000 head this year—less than half the usual export volume.
  • Producers in Sonora are diversifying into beekeeping, sheep raising, milk sales and direct retail beef through specialized butcher shops to offset lost export revenue.