With tighter checks for flesh-eating screwworm, a border crossing reopens

agriculture inspectors, Mexican cattle began moving on Monday through a border crossing in New Mexico that had been closed for nearly two years as both nations work to stop the flesh-eating New World screwworm from spreading. The screwworm — actually a fly larva that burrows into the flesh of livestock, pets and even humans — has threatened the $113 billion U.S. Containment efforts have cost jobs and trade in border communities, and it cut off a source of cattle as the U.S.

struggles to rebuild drought-depleted herds. Reopening crossings could help ease that squeeze, although experts caution that shoppers shouldn’t expect quick relief on beef prices. The port at Columbus, New Mexico, is the third to resume Mexican cattle imports under new safeguards, which include tests, shots and inspections that happen before an animal even gets close to the border.

Officials and ranchers in the two countries say layers of treatment and inspection give them confidence that imported livestock won’t carry screwworm through the ports. But flies can buzz across the border on their own, meaning ranchers, hunters and pet owners should remain vigilant. The parasite was an annual livestock scourge before being largely eradicated in the U.S.

It reappeared in Mexico in 2024, and the first confirmed U.S. More than 60 cases have been confirmed in Texas and New Mexico, with infestations of cattle, sheep, goats, horses and dogs. wildlife was confirmed after a hunter found screwworm in an elk.

Before the current outbreak, the U.S. was importing about 1 million head of cattle per year. It will take time to get back to that number while keeping a sharp eye on the risks to animal health, said Dudley Hoskins, undersecretary for the Department of Agriculture.

“As long as we can manage and mitigate that risk at an acceptable level, we will continue to process the safe and legal movement of cattle through these ports,” he said, watching as cattle lined up in the chutes at Columbus. New Mexico is key for cattle imports About a third of all Mexican cattle imported to the U.S. each year pass through Columbus and the Santa Teresa port near El Paso, Texas.