The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has shut down livestock trade through the southern border with Mexico due to a newly reported spread of New World Screwworm in Mexico.

“Due to a newly reported northward spread of New World Screwworm in Mexico, @SecRollins has ordered the closure of livestock trade through southern ports of entry effective immediately,” the USDA announced.

“To ensure the protection of U.S. livestock herds, USDA is holding Mexico accountable by ensuring proactive measures are being taken to maintain a NWS free barrier,” it added.

“I have ordered an immediate shutdown of live cattle, bison, and horse trade through the southern U.S.–Mexico border,” Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said.

“This decisive action comes after Mexico confirmed another case of New World Screwworm in Veracruz. As promised, @USDA remains vigilant to ensure the protection of America’s livestock and food supply,” she added.

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USDA stated in a release:

Yesterday, Mexico’s National Service of Agro-Alimentary Health, Safety, and Quality (SENASICA) reported a new case of New World Screwworm (NWS) in Ixhuatlan de Madero, Veracruz in Mexico, which is approximately 160 miles northward of the current sterile fly dispersal grid, on the eastern side of the country and 370 miles south of the U.S./Mexico border. This new northward detection comes approximately two months after northern detections were reported in Oaxaca and Veracruz, less than 700 miles away from the U.S. border, which triggered the closure of our ports to Mexican cattle, bison, and horses on May 11, 2025.

While USDA announced a risk-based phased port re-opening strategy for cattle, bison, and equine from Mexico beginning as early as July 7, 2025, this newly reported NWS case raises significant concern about the previously reported information shared by Mexican officials and severely compromises the outlined port reopening schedule of five ports from July 7-September 15. Therefore, in order to protect American livestock and our nation’s food supply, Secretary Rollins has ordered the closure of livestock trade through southern ports of entry effective immediately.

“The United States has promised to be vigilant — and after detecting this new NWS case, we are pausing the planned port reopening’s to further quarantine and target this deadly pest in Mexico. We must see additional progress combatting NWS in Veracruz and other nearby Mexican states in order to reopen livestock ports along the Southern border,” Rollins said.

“Thanks to the aggressive monitoring by USDA staff in the U.S. and in Mexico, we have been able to take quick and decisive action to respond to the spread of this deadly pest,” she added.

The U.S. government intends to breed billions of flies and dump them over Mexico and southern Texas to combat the “flesh-eating maggot.”

U.S. Government Intends To Breed Billions Of Flies And Dump Them From Airplanes Near Southern Border

Cattle groups have urged the USDA to ban Mexican livestock imports amid the screwworm threats.

"Our American cattle supply is already so fragile, and the @usda is about to reopen livestock imports coming from countries trying to contain FLESH-EATING MAGGOTS detected in their cattle supplies," Meriwether Farms previously said.

"Why are they doing this? Why are they prioritizing globalist trade agendas over the safety of the American people? KEEP THE PORTS CLOSED," it added.

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"What is the Newworld Screwworm and why the @usda should continue suspending livestock imports from Mexico," Meriwether Farms said in another post.

"The New World screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax) is a parasitic fly whose larvae infest and feed on the living flesh of warm-blooded animals—including livestock, wildlife, pets, and even people—by laying eggs in wounds. Once hatched, the maggots burrow deeper into tissue, causing painful, potentially fatal infections if not treated," it added.

Fortune noted:

President Donald Trump’s administration on May 11 announced a halt on imports of live cattle, horses and bison over the southern border because of an outbreak of the screwworm fly, whose flesh-eating larvae can kill cattle.

Mexico resumed cattle exports to the United States on Monday after mitigation efforts, following Washington’s announcement that it was gradually lifting the nearly two-month pause.

At the time, officials said cattle exports had resumed thanks to efforts by both countries in battling the parasitic pest.

Rollins’s statement on Wednesday said further efforts were necessary in specific regions.

“We must see additional progress combatting NWS in Veracruz and other nearby Mexican states in order to reopen livestock ports along the Southern border,” the official said.

Mexico exported just over one million head of cattle to the United States in 2024, according to official estimates. The trade was halted briefly that year for the same reason.

 

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