After screwworm scare, US-Mexico border set to reopen for cattle imports
[July 01, 2025]
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico and the United States said they would
gradually reopen the United States border to cattle imports from Mexico
in July after U.S. agriculture officials suspended them in May over
fears of the northward spread of the screwworm, agriculture officials in
both countries said Monday.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said via X that “key progress”
had been made. She noted that more than 100 million sterile flies were
being dispersed weekly and there had been no northward spread in eight
weeks.
The U.S. restricted Mexican cattle shipments in late November following
the detection of the pest, but lifted the ban in February after
protocols were put in place to evaluate the animals prior to entry into
the country. But after an “unacceptable northward advancement” of the
screwworm, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement it was
suspending them again in May.
Mexico Agriculture and Rural Development Secretary Julio Berdegué said
he participated in a virtual meeting with Rollins Monday and that the
border opening would begin July 7.
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Cattle serve as the backdrop for a roundtable discussion on the New
World Screwworm at the Texas A&M Beef Center in College Station,
Texas on, April 29, 2025. (Meredith Seaver/College Station Eagle via
AP, File)
 Rollins and Berdegué applauded the
close cooperation between both governments.
The screwworm is a larva of the Cochliomyia hominivorax fly that can
invade the tissues of any warm-blooded animal, including humans. The
parasite enters the skin, causing serious and life-threatening
damage and lesions.
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