News

Sec. Rollins calls New World Screwworm “a big deal”

The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture says she’s hopeful the continued northward spread of New World Screwworm can be resolved sooner rather than later.

Brooke Rollins tells Brownfield she recently made the decision to suspend Mexican live cattle imports after NWS was detected within 700 miles of the U.S. border.

“That’s too close,” she said. “I have to do everything I can, even if it’s painful in the short-term. I know this is not ideal, but we’ve got to shut that border down until Mexico, with our partnership, gets this under control.”

She says New World Screwworm is a serious issue.

“The screwworm, as we know, devastated the American cattle industry 50 years ago. It took about 30 years to fully recover.”

Rollins says she has been holding frequent discussions with Mexico’s ag secretary.

“We’re assessing every day,” she said. “I want the Mexicans to understand and our cattle industry to understand, I’m on this. I am doing literally everything possible to make sure our cattle guys are protected.”

NWS is a deadly parasitic fly that infests warm-blooded animals, causing severe wounds and complications that can lead to death.

INTERVIEW: Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins