The USDA says progress is being made in limiting the spread of screwworms in cattle after its detection in Mexico.
A USDA veterinarian official says it all started with one animal.
“The one infection that they found was a lot of 100 head that were moving north and were stopped at the checkpoint. There was one animal in that lot that was identified with screwworm infestation. They treated the entire lot of 100 head of animals and returned them to their farm of origin in southern Mexico. But that is the only case that they’ve identified so far. And so obviously they’re in the neighborhood, going around each of the farms with information, education and inspections taking place in that area, in that region, to see if there’s any additional cases that have taken place,” said Dr. Burke Healy.
Dr. Healy says the U.S. and Mexico are working hand-in-hand, developing new protocol and process to minimize any risks.
“Mexico has put in a robust system; they’ve got multiple checkpoints that protect their southern border, that they would utilize to find this particular case. So we’re confident in their system, and again working hand in hand with them to come up with a protocol to reestablish trade, as well as to work on that southern end of Mexico to try to establish a barrier down there and and and work to push the fly out of the country.”
We still do not know how long the border will be closed to live cattle imports, but Healy says he believes it will likely be after the first of the year.
While the temporary ban on imports is essential, it does have repercussions. The president and CEO of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association says those imports play an important role in the U.S. livestock industry at large.
“Probably goes without saying, but the Mexican feeder cattle supply is an important part of our cattle feeding operations here in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Last year U.S.-wide, we crossed over 1.2 million head of Mexican feeder cattle. This year, we’re on track to maybe even cross a few more than that. When you look in a window of timing here, when we’ve been in declining U.S. cow numbers and the availability of feeder cattle in the U.S. is down, these Mexican feeder cattle provide a great opportunity for all of us collectively,” said Ben Weinheimer.
