Overview
- The USDA ordered immediate suspension of Mexican cattle, bison and horse imports at all southern ports after a screwworm case was detected on July 9 in Ixhuatlan de Madero, Veracruz
- Officials maintain weekly aerial releases of over 100 million radiation-sterilized male flies under the sterile insect technique to collapse wild screwworm populations
- The USDA is fast-tracking an $8.5 million sterile-fly production facility in South Texas and investing $21 million to retrofit Mexico’s Metapa plant, targeting expanded output by late 2025
- Mexico’s president has labeled the renewed closure “totally exaggerated,” even as U.S. and Mexican teams intensify binational surveillance and control efforts
- The parasite, eradicated from U.S. livestock by 1966, can kill untreated animals within weeks and poses up to $1.8 billion in potential losses for Texas ranchers