Mexico’s Cintalapa Ranchers and veterinarians in Mexico, hundreds of miles from the border, are battling the issue that has U.S. agricultural authorities so alarmed as Mexican cattle are once again prohibited from entering the United States this month due to concerns about the spread of a parasite that consumes flesh.
Despite recollections of earlier outbreaks in the 1980s and 1990s, the New World screwworm fly’s quick spread in the southern state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala, seems to have taken most ranchers by surprise.
Although it won’t be completed until next year, Mexico is working with the United States to construct a plant in Chiapas that will generate sterile flies, which have been shown to be effective in halting the spread. In the meantime, the cost of medications used to treat screwworm-infected livestock has skyrocketed.
This has caused some people to rely on natural solutions, such as rubbing lime or gasoline on open wounds to get rid of the worms.
Apart from the expense of the medication, treatment necessitates close observation and typically entails several rounds. The fly is invited to lay its eggs in any open wound, no matter how tiny.
Alfredo Chvez, a veterinarian, claims he missed the outbreak’s consequences since he left Chiapas to study in 1989, but in the last month, he has witnessed an increase in cases in his region of the state.
He has now handled perhaps a dozen instances himself and heard of dozens more in the vicinity. Sheep, pigs, dogs, and cats are also targets; it’s not just cows.
Chvez travels from animal to animal with an aerosol spray that aids in drawing the maggots out and a pair of blue tweezers. He sends agricultural officials with samples of maggots in plastic tubes.
However, he claimed that the government hasn’t done much more than supply the tubes and urge ranchers to report cases.
He declared, “We’ve faced it alone,” on Wednesday.
Following an earlier suspension in May, when the Trump administration declared it would close the border once more following the discovery of an infected animal in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, the United States had only begun to reopen it to cattle imports this month. Although common in Central America, the fly’s northward migration is a cause for concern.
U.S. officials are concerned that, as was the case decades before, the fly’s maggots could result in significant financial losses if it makes it to Texas.
According to ranch caretaker Edi Valencia Santos, representatives of the Mexican government have visited his community to speak with cattle owners but have not yet provided supplies. On the property, he has had five diseased animals.
The existence of the screwworm in Mexico has stopped cattle shipments to the United States statewide, even if the cattle in this area are consumed domestically rather than being imported.
Valencia stated that although he is hopeful that they will eventually assist, the expenses are already mounting on ranchers. He recalled the small planes that were used to distribute sterile flies during those previous epidemics.
“It’s a big, big problem in Chiapas,” he stated.
Copyright 2025 NPR
