New World screwworm has been detected in an 8-month-old calf less than 70 miles south of the Texas border near a major commercial corridor to the United States, according to USDA, which says it will be announcing steps to help rebuild U.S. cattle supplies.
The detection of the flesh-eating pest was near Sabinas Hidalgo, which USDA notes in a release “is located near the major highway from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, to Laredo, Texas, which is one of the most heavily trafficked commercial thoroughfares in the world.” Interstate Highway 35 begins at Laredo.
The previous northernmost detection was 370 miles to the south in Veracruz on July 9, USDA says. The calf in the latest case had been moved to a feedlot from an area of the country with known screwworm cases.
Livestock imports from Mexico remain suspended, and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins in August announced that the department would spend $750 million on production of sterile flies and another $100 million on new technology for screwworm control, including new types of traps and lures.
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The suspension of Mexican cattle imports has been contributing to rising U.S. cattle and beef prices, and USDA says in the release that it will be releasing “a significant plan to help rebuild the American cattle supply, incentivizing our great ranchers, and driving a full-scale revitalization of the American beef industry.
“This is only the beginning with many more announcements coming this week as USDA restores American strength, protects food security, and supports America’s ranchers and farmers.”
According to USDA, the August price for slaughter steers reached a new monthly average record at $243.14 per hundredweight, up $6 from July and $54 from August 2024. Texas feedlots are holding cattle longer, likely because of the lack of Mexican animals to replace them, the department said in its monthly industry outlook.
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association described the latest detection as "extremely concerning"
“With the threat so close, we need more sterile fly dispersal to push this pest back from our border. Now is the time for USDA to expedite construction of the domestic sterile fly facility and eradicate this pest from our doorstep," NCBA CEO Colin Woodall said in a statement.
"We also ask USDA to continue holding Mexico accountable and urge them to reduce animal movements that could spread screwworm north. NCBA is also urging the Environmental Protection Agency to authorize new pesticide products to combat screwworm and provide another tool for American cattle producers."
Rollins said in a social media post that the Mexican government alerted her to the latest case while she was in Arizona Sunday.
She called the outbreak a “top national security priority.”
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