On Monday, May 12, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the reinstated border ban, which had been temporarily lifted in early 2025 after Mexico established pre-import protocols to lessen the threat. However, the USDA cited in a press release the “continued and rapid northward spread” of the parasite, which has been detected at farms approximately 700 miles south of the U.S. border.
The STOP Screwworms Act calls for resources to eradicate screwworms via the method that saw success during a 1960s outbreak: Producing and releasing sterile male flies. Currently, said National Cattlemen’s Beef Association CEO Colin Woodall, the only facility producing the specimens is in Panama. “The one thing we have going for us is that the female screwworms only mate once. Because of that, we can introduce sterile males into the wild,” he noted in a recent "Beltway Beef" podcast. “We have a problem right now with the availability of an adequate number of these sterile flies.” The Senate bill would secure funding for a new, U.S.-based operation to provide the necessary quantity of the specimens, which Woodall estimates to be four times what the Panama facility is now producing. He cautioned that in addition to the threat to animal health, the economic ripple effects of a stateside screwworm infestation would reach the entire industry regardless of its geographical constraints.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service maintains a webpage with additional information on the parasite, along with maps of affected areas. Visit here for more information.
