Mexico’s National Service of Agro-Alimentary Health, Safety and Quality (SENASICA) has confirmed a new case of New World screwworm (NWS) in Sabinas Hidalgo, located in the state of Nuevo León, less than 70 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.
This is now the northernmost detection of NWS during this outbreak, and the one most threatening to the American cattle and livestock industry. Sabinas Hidalgo is located near the major highway from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, to Laredo, Texas, which is one of the most heavily trafficked commercial thoroughfares in the world.
The previous northernmost detection was reported on July 9 in Veracruz, approximately 370 miles farther south. Preliminary reports from SENASICA indicate that the affected animal — an 8-month-old cow — had recently been moved to a certified feedlot in Nuevo León from a region in southern Mexico with known active NWS cases. The potential link to animal movement underscores the need for Mexico to fully implement and comply with the U.S.-Mexico Joint Action Plan for NWS in Mexico, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a press release.
Currently, U.S. ports remain closed to imports of cattle, bison and horses from Mexico.
