At the time of this video, there are 25 cases of New World Screwworm in the United States, 24 cases are in central and southwest Texas and 1 case was detected in a dog in southeast New Mexico. The cases involve cattle, goats, sheep, and a dog.
So far, there have been no detections in U.S. wildlife, nor are there any fly trap detections. It’s been 23 days since the first detection, which occurred on June 3.
The New World screwworm does not impact the safety of meat. It’s a pest that affects live animals before they enter the food supply.
Just across the border into Mexico, and within about 100 miles of the U.S. border, Mexico has detected 63 new cases since June 3, the date when the first case was detected in the U.S.
This is a real threat to U.S. livestock, pets, and wildlife, and can be to humans. How far into the United States the New World Screwworm will penetrate is unknown.
Fortunately, the U.S. has delt with this pernicious pest before – back in the 50s and 60s, and learned how to combat it. It’s the production and dispersal of sterile male flies that it known to depopulate the pest. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is producing and strategically dispersing sterile male flies in an attempt to arrest the northward and lateral spread of the New World screwworm in the U.S. It’s been reported that the U.S. needs to substantially increase the production of sterile flies and the USDA is gearing up to accomplish this, but it will take time.
What ranchers and other citizens should do now is keep a close eye on their livestock, pets, and themselves for any open wounds that the fly may infest. As the temperature continues to warm up, the fly will become more active, and while it could be carried by the winds, its known to remain in close proximity to its potential hosts – that means livestock and all other warm-blooded animals.
Another very important mitigation measure initiated by the USDA is the closure of the U.S. border to livestock imports. This serves two very important purposes. First, it prevents the screwworm larvae from being carried into the U.S. in wounds on domestic livestock where they can then drop to the ground and pupate, producing adult screwworm flies on U.S. soil. It also prevents female New World screwworm flies from accompanying or following domestic livestock into the United States.
The second purpose is critical, particularly given the migration of the pest from Central America, into southern Mexico, then northward through Mexico until breaching the U.S. border. Keeping the U.S. border closed until the pest is completely eradicated in the U.S. and in all of Mexico will eliminate the economic incentive to bring cattle northward from southern Mexico in anticipation of selling them in the United States.
Mexico has now had a total of 30,231 cases through June 24, and most of those cases are in southern Mexico, where the New World Screwworm remains endemic. The U.S. should continue doing all it can to convince Mexico to cease any northward movement of cattle, and keeping the U.S. border closed will help facilitate that effort.
Though that might sound simple enough, there’s a serious complication. Illegal cattle trafficking by cartels and other criminals has been cited as a factor in the screwworm’s breach of the containment zone in Panama, and its reintroduction into Mexico. Reports indicate that about 800,000 cattle are entering Mexico illegally each year.
It’s one thing for nations to cooperate with each other to combat a common pest as the United States and Mexico are doing to fight the screwworm. But the illicit activity of organized crime can effectively undermine that cooperative effort.
It is Mexico that must put an end to any illegal cattle trafficking into and within its borders, and the United States must closely monitor Mexico’s progress to ensure that Mexico is effectively enforcing its laws to prevent illicit cattle trafficking from endangering U.S. livestock.
The New World screwworm is shining a light on the dangers of becoming increasingly reliant on foreign countries for our food supply. America’s dependency on Mexico for a percentage of its needed cattle supplies has contributed to the long-term liquidation of the U.S. cattle herd. Now, in times like this when the domestic supply is already inadequate to meet domestic demand, the inaccessibility of Mexican cattle supplies exacerbates the supply/demand imbalance, sending markets spiraling.
Let’s learn from our mistakes and develop a plan to end our reliance on foreign countries for our food by rebuilding our U.S. cattle herd so America can become self-reliant in the production of a critically important protein source – beef.
