Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum blasts US screwworm response as ‘exaggerated’

The US has closed its ports of introduction to Mexican cattle for fearfulness of the parasitic, flesh-eating worm spreading north.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has denounced a determination by the United States to erstwhile again suspend imports of her country’s cattle implicit a flesh-eating parasite called the screwworm.

On Thursday, Sheinbaum utilized her greeting quality league to telephone fears of the worm overblown. She pointed retired that a azygous lawsuit successful the eastbound authorities of Veracruz had prompted the import pause.

“From our constituent of view, it is simply a wholly exaggerated determination to adjacent the borderline again,” Sheinbaum said.

At the centre of the cross-border statement is the New World screwworm, a taxon endemic to the Caribbean and parts of South America. It had antecedently been eradicated from the northernmost portion of its range, successful Central and North America.

The US, for instance, declared it eliminated from the state successful 1966.

But the parasite whitethorn beryllium making a comeback, leaving the US authorities alarmed astir its imaginable interaction connected its cattle and beef sector, a $515bn industry.

The New World screwworms look erstwhile a assortment of parasitic flies, Cochliomyia hominivorax, laic their eggs adjacent wounds oregon sores connected warm-blooded animals. Most commonly, its hosts are livestock similar horses oregon cattle, but adjacent household pets oregon humans tin beryllium infested.

Each pistillate alert is susceptible of laying hundreds of eggs. When the eggs hatch, they merchandise larvae that passageway into the soma of their hosts, often causing unthinkable pain.

Unlike maggots from different species, they bash not provender connected dormant flesh, lone surviving tissue. If near untreated, infestations tin sometimes beryllium deadly.

Animal wellness idiosyncratic Eduardo Lugo treats the wounds of a cattle successful Nuevo Palomas, Mexico, connected May 16 [Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters]

The fearfulness of New World screwworms expanding northwards has caused the US to halt shipments of Mexican cattle respective times implicit the past year.

In precocious November, it enactment successful spot a prohibition that lasted until February. Then, connected May 11, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the US would erstwhile again barroom introduction to Mexican cattle aft the “unacceptable northward advancement” of the bug.

A larboard of introduction successful Arizona was slated to reopen to Mexican cattle starting connected Monday. But that program was suspended nether a caller announcement connected Wednesday, which implemented the cattle prohibition erstwhile more, effectual immediately.

“The United States has promised to beryllium vigilant — and aft detecting this caller NWS [New World screwworm] case, we are pausing the planned larboard reopening’s to further quarantine and people this deadly pest successful Mexico,” Rollins said successful a statement.

The connection explained that the US hopes to eradicate the parasite, pushing its encroachment nary further than the Darien Gap, the onshore span successful Panama that connects South and Central America.

It besides asserted that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) was “holding Mexico accountable by ensuring proactive measures are being taken”.

A idiosyncratic drops New World screwworm alert larvae into a tray astatine a installation that breeds sterile flies successful Pacora, Panama [Handout/COPEG via AP Photo]

Part of its strategy volition beryllium to merchandise antheral flies — lab-raised and sterilised done radiation — from airplanes successful Mexico and the confederate US. Female flies tin mate lone once, truthful if they brace with a sterile fly, they volition beryllium incapable to reproduce.

The aforesaid strategy has been deployed successful the past to power the New World screwworm, arsenic an alternate to much hazardous methods similar pesticides that could impact different animals.

In a social media post connected June 30, Rollins touted gains successful caller weeks, including “over 100 cardinal sterile flies dispersed weekly” and “no notable increase” successful screwworm cases successful 8 weeks.

She thanked her Mexican counterpart, Julio Berdegue, for his help.

“He and his squad person worked manus successful manus with our @USDA squad since May 11 to get these ports reopened. We are grateful,” she wrote.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies