U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has paused the phased reopening of ports along the US Mexico Border due to further northward spread of the New World Screwworm in Mexico. Earlier this week, Mexico’s National Service of Agro-Alimentary Health, Safety and Quality reported a new case of New World Screwworm in Veracruz, approximately 160 miles northward of the current sterile fly dispersal grid.
This new report moves the New World Screwworm from 700 miles away on May 11th to now within 370 miles away from the US/Mexico border. According to the USDA, the newly reported case “raises significant concern about the previously reported information shared by Mexican officials and severely compromises the outlined port reopening schedule” previously announced.
The phased reopening was to take place between July 7 through September 15, but Secretary Rollins has ordered the closure of the livestock trade through the southern ports of entry effective immediately.
Secretary Rollins said, “The United States has promised to be vigilant — and after detecting this new NWS case, we are pausing the planned port reopening’s to further quarantine and target this deadly pest in Mexico. We must see additional progress combatting NWS in Veracruz and other nearby Mexican states in order to reopen livestock ports along the Southern border, Thanks to the aggressive monitoring by USDA staff in the U.S. and in Mexico, we have been able to take quick and decisive action to respond to the spread of this deadly pest.”
Dale Sandlin with Southeast AgNet