New efforts are underway in Mexico to bring the New World Screwworm under control. USDA is spending money to breed sterile flies, a popular control method for the pest.
It is welcome news to producers in cattle country, including Texas, where ag economists warn the costs of a U.S.-based outbreak would be detrimental.
“For Texas alone in 2024, if we had New World Screwworm at the rates that we saw in the past, it’d be $1.8 billion to the Texas economy and about $732 million just for the producers,” said Elliott Dennis.
Dennis says the pest can wipe out as much as 60 percent of an animal’s value.
Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins is also weighing in, and she echoes the recent warnings.
“The NWS is a scourge that is making its way from Latin America up through Mexico, and if it hits America, it is going to be absolutely devastating to our cattle industry. At the top of the list, frankly. So a lot of our industries.”
Mexico and the U.S. are renovating an existing fruit fly facility. Once running, it will produce up to 100 million sterile flies each week. This kind of population control is a popular form of eradication.
Cattle imports from Mexico have been suspended since earlier this month. However, USDA’s Chief Veterinarian says they could resume by the end of the year. She tells Reuters that the Department will not resume imports until they are comfortable with Mexico’s surveillance. Right now, imports are suspended indefinitely on a monthly basis.
