Officials on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico line put their new cattle inspection protocols to the test Monday, when nearly 700 animals streamed through the 30-foot border wall into Douglas, Arizona.
The cattle were the first to cross the U.S.-Mexico border in more than a year, as both countries work to control the spread of a flesh-eating parasite called the New World screwworm.
“Binational coordination is fundamental to control and eradicate the New World screwworm,” said Gerardo Guerrero Gonzalez, with Mexico’s agriculture ministry’s animal inspection department.
The reopening comes days after the first case of New World screwworm in the state of Sonora, the Mexican state south of Arizona where the cattle came from on Monday.
Mexico has been in a more than year-and-a-half long battle with the parasite, which entered Texas earlier this summer. New World screwworm maggots burrow into the open wounds of warm-blooded animals and can be deadly if left untreated.
Officials on both sides say the recent case in Sonora, around 400 miles away from Douglas, isn’t a threat to the cattle that crossed Monday.
“All the cattle that are coming from Mexico are completely healthy,” Guerrero Gonzalez said.
The cattle that came through the border wall Monday went through a rigorous inspection procedure, said Alan Huddleston, the chief veterinary officer at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS. The added layers of protection included inspections by specially trained screwworm-sniffing dogs, Huddleston said.
“This whole process of reopening the Douglas port is a proof of concept that we have designed an animal import protocol for cattle that will ensure that cattle that are imported into the United States legally, and are imported using our protocol, will have a negligible risk of bringing New World screwworm into the country,” Huddleston said.
If the protocol continues successfully in Douglas, it will lead to more ports reopening along the U.S.-Mexico border, Huddleston said.
In the United States, ranchers have enjoyed high prices for their cattle, as the U.S. cattle herd reaches record lows, driving up prices for consumers.
Rancher Frank Ambriz cares for a few dozen cattle in the community of Double Adobe, Arizona, just north of Douglas. As the parasite has crept closer to the border, he has tried to be diligent about making sure his animals are screwworm-free.
“I go to the ranch at least 24 hours,” Ambriz said. “I’m trying to put another hour into the day so it can be 25.”
Ambriz expects the border reopening to be ultimately good for the cattle industry, even if it brings down prices somewhat. He trusts the inspection process to only let in healthy animals, and he prefers resuming live cattle imports from Mexico to President Trump’s recent announcement on Truth Social that the United States would ease ground beef tariffs.
That announcement drew backlash from U.S. cattle ranchers and the industry’s lobby, as well as from Republicans in Congress.
“It’s going to hurt us down the road, prices are going to take a drop,” Ambriz said.
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The New World screwworm parasite has been in Mexico for more than a year and a half. Now that it’s crossed the border, the United States could turn south for direction. -
The Arizona-Sonora border is set to reopen to cattle starting in Douglas on Monday. USDA says protocols in place will protect U.S. livestock from the flesh-eating parasite. -
The case comes just days before the U.S.-Mexico border is scheduled to reopen to cattle, starting with the Arizona-Sonora border. -
The U.S. Agriculture Department plans to reopen part of the U.S.-Mexico border to cattle later this month. On Aug. 24, the Douglas, Arizona, port will become the first to allow cattle from Mexico to travel into the United States.
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No cases of the flesh-eating New World screwworm parasite have been reported in Arizona, but USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in the state has recommendations for ranchers to protect against it. -
The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension is in touch with Arizona ranchers to protect against the deadly parasite. -
The reopening will start at the Douglas-Agua Prieta, Mexico, border crossing in late August after a more than yearlong closure to protect against the parasite. -
The Southwest border has been closed to cattle since May to prevent the northern spread of New World screwworm. -
Cattle from Mexico have been barred from the United States for most the past year to prevent the parasite from entering. Ranchers in Sonora say this method was a mistake. -
Mexico has largely been able to contain the deadly parasite in the southern part of the country. -
The United States wants to keep out a flesh-eating parasite. But its strategy is costly for Mexico’s ranchers. -
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the border closure after Mexico reported a case of a flesh-eating parasite northeast of Mexico City.
