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NWS detected 170 miles south of U.S. border

Mexico has confirmed the latest case of New World screwworm 170 miles south of the U.S. border.

According to Mexico’s agriculture ministry and sanitation agency, Senascia, the calf was intercepted in Neuvo Leon and is not related to the case that was detected on September 20. The agency says that infection, which was 70 miles south of the Texas border, has been completely controlled.

The agency says the screwworm larvae in the latest detection were found dead or dying as a result of mandatory treatments.

In a social media post on Monday, Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins says it is an isolated incident and she will have USDA personnel immediately on the ground to independently verify the situation.

She says staff will begin trapping, surveilling and dropping sterile flies in that part of Mexico as part of USDA’s 5-point plan to keep the pest out of the United States.