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A critical point in the fight against New World screwworm

The head lobbyist with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says the U.S. is at a critical point in the fight against New World screwworm.

Ethan Lane with NCBA says the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has resumed its eradication efforts. “In central Mexico, APHIS believes that really is the last chance we have to stop that northward movement of that mass of flies,” he says.  “Given the amount of new world screwworms sterile male flies we have available.”

He tells Brownfield that an effective prevention plan will be costly. “It’s going to require a facility,” he says. “It’s going to require millions of dollars to get that tilted up, and we’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars here.  You don’t hear the cattle industry often ask for that kind of money, but the economic impacts of this would be easily in the billions.”

Lane says the last time New World screwworm was in this part of the world it was in the Florida Keys in 2017. “There were 54 animals, I believe, on that island, and it took five months to eradicate the screwworm from that island,” he says.  “This is no joke. We cannot have the entire US Mexican border consumed with new world screw worm and not expected to be a massive problem, not just for the US cattle industry but for the economy in general.” Lane says he doesn’t expect the USDA’s staffing cuts to impact its work to prevent the spread of the pest. “Secretary Rollins is concentrating those resources on core mission and core problems, and we believe this is right at the top of that list,” he says.