Screwworm cases already reported in Texas, New Mexico
At daybreak in northern Mexico’s desert, rancher Martín Alfonso Ibarra takes advantage of the cooler hours to oversee the milking of his cows and tend to 16 prized calves. Soon, he hopes, they will be headed north to the United States as a yearlong ban on Mexican cattle imports comes to an end.
The ban, imposed over concerns about a flesh-eating parasite known as the New World screwworm fly, affected cattle and beef industries on both sides of the border. It exacerbated a livestock shortage in the U.S. and hurt a Mexican ranching sector already weakened by drought.
Mexico’s cattle export business generated $1.2 billion for the country last year.
The U.S. is set to resume livestock imports from Mexico beginning Aug. 24 at the Douglas, Arizona, border crossing, which borders Agua Prieta in Mexico’s Sonora state. If the reopening goes smoothly, the U.S. Department of Agriculture could allow imports through additional ports.
Shipments will initially be subject to restrictions aimed at preventing the spread of the parasite, which has already crossed the border, with authorities battling cases in Texas and New Mexico.