Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced on Sunday that the U.S. is pausing imports of cows, horses, and bison at the ports of entry along the southern border due to the “rapid northward spread of New World Screwworm (NWS) in Mexico.”
“[Mexican Agriculture] Secretary [Julio] Berdegue and I have worked closely on the [New World Screwworm] response; however, it is my duty to take all steps within my control to protect the livestock industry in the United States from this devastating pest,” Rollins said in a statement. “Once we see increased surveillance and eradication efforts, and the positive results of those actions, we remain committed to opening the border for livestock trade. This is not about politics or punishment of Mexico, rather it is about food and animal safety.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, screwworm parasitic flies spread by laying eggs in open wounds or in the bodily openings of warm-blooded animals, such as in the “nose, mouth, or eyes, umbilical cord of a newborn animal, or genitals.” After hundreds or thousands of eggs are laid, the larvae hatch, “feed on the living flesh,” then drop to the ground to later emerge as screwworm flies.
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