The U.S.-Mexico border is once again closed to cattle, after a case of a flesh-eating parasite was discovered farther north in Mexico than previously reported.
The cattle crossing point into Douglas, Arizona, had become the first to reopen just days ago after a nearly two-month shutdown to prevent the spread of the New World screwworm into the United States.
But the U.S. Department Agriculture announced the border would again be shut to cattle after a new case of the deadly fly larva was reported, this time more than a hundred miles northeast of Mexico City.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum criticized the United States’ decision to close the border for a single case that, while closer to the border, is still hundreds of miles from the U.S.
“They made a totally exaggerated decision,” Sheinbaum said.
The border shutdown affects ranchers in the Mexican state of Sonora, many of whom export cattle into Arizona through border crossings more than 1,000 miles from the northernmost reported case of the parasite.
That includes Jesús Fimbres, a Sonoran rancher who understands the United States’ desire to keep the parasite out. The state of Sonora already has strict health protocols and requirements for cattle, before the animals undergo inspection from USDA at the border, Fimbres said.
“I believe we are doing it right,” Fimbres said.
Mexican border states have been working with USDA to develop additional checks on cattle after the discovery of a cow with New World screwworm in southern Mexico in November.
The United States eradicated the New World screwworm in the 1960s using technology to disperse sterile male flies into the population. The United States and Mexico are now both investing in sterile fly production facilities aimed at again combatting the spread of the parasite.
“The United States has promised to be vigilant,” USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement Wednesday. “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.”
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