The Douglas border crossing reopened to cattle Tuesday after a more than weeklong pause — making it the only point on the U.S.-Mexico border where live cattle imports can cross.
Late last month, the Agua Prieta-Douglas border crossing into Arizona reopened after more than a yearlong closure by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to protect against the New World screwworm.
The flesh-eating parasite crossed into Texas from Mexico earlier this summer, after it spent more than a year and a half making its way north through Mexico from the Guatemala border.
A few days after the Douglas port became the first to reopen in late August, USDA again halted inspections due to an equipment problem on the Mexico side of the border. The cattle crossing again reopened earlier this week.
The Mexican state of Sonora, south of Arizona, has reported nearly 40 cases since the parasite first arrived there last month.
The USDA says they paused cattle crossings late last month after being notified that the cattle chutes on the Mexico side of the border had “become inoperable” after welding modifications.
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