Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Tuesday that USDA is working with Mexico to combat the new world screwworm (NWS), and the suspension on live animal imports from Mexico will continue.In a news release, Rollins said that she had held a call with Mexican Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development Julio Berdegué Sacristán and that USDA will spend $21 million to renovate an existing fruit fly production facility in Metapa, Mexico, to further the long-term goal of eradicating this insect.When operational, this facility will produce 60-100 million additional sterile NWS flies weekly to push the population further south in Mexico, USDA said.
“Our partnership with Mexico is crucial in making this effort a success,” said Rollins. “We are continuing to work closely with Mexico to push NWS away from the United States and out of Mexico. The investment I am announcing today is one of many efforts my team is making around the clock to protect our animals, our farm economy, and the security of our nation’s food supply.”
USDA will continue to evaluate the current suspension on live animal imports every 30 days, according to the news release.On Tuesday, a local Missouri website briefly posted a report claiming a case of NWS was found in the state’s livestock, but USDA later confirmed that the report was false, RFD TV reported.
The U.S. Cattlemen’s Association said today, “USCA is currently in communication with USDA to identify the next steps and actions being taken by the department to ensure a false claim, as was made in Missouri, does not happen again. The ramifications of the claim were swift and immediately drove down the markets, harming any producer who sold animals that day. USDA has worked to ensure that our borders have remained protected and all animal health and safety precautions have been in place regarding the advancement of the new world screwworm; a false claim, reported and posted without evidence, is of severe concern to anyone in the industry.”
–The Hagstrom Report