Mexico, Texas, New Mexico authorities analyze New World screwworm impact on cattle trade

SANTA TERESA, N.M. (KVIA) -- Agriculture officials, international trade representatives and other leaders from Chihuahua, Mexico, Texas and New Mexico met in Santa Teresa Thursday to discuss challenges the cross-border cattle trade is facing with New World screwworm in the region.

It's been nearly two years since the U.S.-Mexico border has been closed to live cattle and livestock imports into the U.S. due to the spread of the New World Screwworm and this has halted and crippled all cattle business in the area.

Experts say this has also disrupted the supply chain, as local businesses have been facing inventory shortages while Mexico also works to stop the spread of the parasite.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins made the order and she has also announced a phased, risk-based reopening of ports for cattle, bison and horses to resume trade soon.

The New Mexico Border Authority (NMBA) hosted the NW Screwworm summit in Santa Teresa today, where local leadership from El Paso, Juárez, New Mexico and even from the cattle and livestock business from both sides of the border agreed to take further steps and find solutions for this problem in the region.

"There are two issues, one is the reopening of the border that obviously has to be dealt with between both federal governments, but also dealing with the flies at the local level and that's the other part," said Gerardo Fierro, Executive Director of the New Mexico Department of Agriculture. "For the reopening of the border, it has to be between USDA and Senasica (Servicio Nacional de Sanidad, Inocuidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria) and then how the states, the livestock ports can also help meet those requirements, those protocols, so that cattle from Mexico crosses into the U.S. again."

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said they want to use the Screwworm Adult Suppression System (SWASS), a USDA-developed toxic bait designed to reduce wild New World screwworm populations quickly. It works by using a synthetic attractant (Swormlure) to draw in adult flies, combined with a feeding bait and insecticide to kill them before they can lay eggs in any animal wounds.

According to the Texas Agriculture Commission, this is how SWASS could fight the outbreak:

• Integrated strategy: Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and livestock advocates are urgently lobbying the USDA to pair SWASS with the existing Sterile Insect Technique (SIT).
• Immediate Knockdown: SWASS can eliminate up to 85% to 95% of adult wild flies in targeted areas within weeks.

There's also a problem with SIT Alone: while the USDA is dropping millions of sterile flies to stop the parasite from breeding, scaling up production can take months to years. Commissioner Miller argues SWASS is needed to immediately knock down the population while sterile flies complete the eradication process.

"We should be deploying the SWASS system, the fly bait first and then following up with the sterile flies," said Commissioner Miller. "I think everyone here today learned something. I know I did and about the fly bait, we did discuss it is very cheap compared to producing 500 million flies a week, that takes a billion dollar facility."

"We are in an education listening mode today, especially the City of El Paso, where we have to make sure that we are in communication with our partners in Juárez and as well as the County of El Paso, to make sure that we are prepared, as County Judge Samaniego said, to have a strategy in place to handle this situation if it does continue to move our direction; hopefully doesn't conitnue to do that," said El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson. "The New World Screwworm situation has crippled our cattle industry here in the border region."

"For us, this relationship is so important that we are the ones convening this meeting, precisely to take proactive measures. In our municipal government activities, we have sought to focus on prevention before any situation arises that might cause alarm," said Juárez Mayor Héctor Ortíz Orpinel. "The communication we maintain, the ability to create the necessary conditions to have the right tools in the event of a contingency, and the ongoing dialogue among various parties on both sides of the border, I believe, all of this will greatly help us prepare."

"Naturally, we are also in communication with the Mexican federal government, whose support we always deeply appreciate, seeking not merely a standard Mexican government-to- US government interaction, but rather ensuring they understand the situation as we are experiencing it here in Juárez and, of course, in the other cities," Mayor Ortíz Orpinel added.

All government and nongovernment participants signed a memorandum of understanding saying they will:

• Protect animal health and strengthen agricultural economies.
• Improve surveillance, early detection, and rapid information sharing.
• Coordinate prevention, containment, and eradication efforts.
• Support science-based innovation and proven technologies.
• Promote secure and resilient cross-border agricultural commerce.
• Encourage continued partnership among governments, producers, veterinarians, researchers and industry.

They also committed to:

• Establish ongoing technical cooperation.
• Maintain regular communication and coordination.
• Convene future binational meetings to review progress and emerging risks.
• Develop recommendations that strengthen regional preparedness and response.
• Work together to protect agriculture, animal health and the future of the U.S.-Mexico border region.

More meetings are set to be held soon.