The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it doesn’t expect to reopen the southern border to cattle imports until at least after the holidays.
The border was initially closed to cattle last month in an effort to contain the spread of a deadly, flesh-eating parasite. A case of New World Screwworm was reported in a cow in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas in November.
The USDA said in a statement it will bolster checkpoint surveillance for cattle crossing through Mexico on their way to the border.
But it said it will take some time to set up the enhanced protocols, meaning the border will be closed to cattle imports for a total of at least a month.
The U.S. eradicated the New World Screwworm in 1966. The fly larvae can burrow into the skin of warm-blooded animals and can often be deadly.
There have been no confirmed cases of the screwworm in the state of Sonora, which borders Arizona, where many people make a living off raising and exporting cattle.
-
The Department of Defense is asking for 785 new Tomahawks in its $1.5 trillion budget proposal sent to Congress. Those missiles are made by Raytheon in Tucson. -
TUSD Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo said he and a board member have sat down with ASDB parents and “made promises.” -
Tucson photographer Alanna Airitam’s latest project features an unlikely subject for art that ends up on gallery walls: Members of Black outlaw motorcycle clubs. -
The small, electric vehicles are designed to be accessible to a domestic market in Mexico. -
The Bureau of Land Management started the process to potentially lease 78,708 acres in northern Arizona for oil and gas drilling. A federal agency says he state has no significant oil or gas reserves.
