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Cattle disease threat causes cattle industry uncertainty

The president of the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association says the threat of New World screwworm is causing uncertainty for U.S. cattle producers.

Jeff Reed says while the disease hasn’t been detected in the United States recently…

“We’ve been involved with state veterinary boards and on the national level with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association working to stay ahead of that,” he says. “I know they’ve been working hard with Mexico.”

Reed says if the U.S. and Mexico can keep a good relationship, it can help in the efforts to keep the disease out of the country.

“If we don’t have partnerships and relationships with Mexico, NWS would be a bigger impact than we’d like to see.”

The USDA has suspended imports of live cattle, bison, and horses from Mexico last month due to the continued northward spread of NWS.