US Cattle Prices Jump as US Halts Mexican Cattle Imports Due to New World Screwworm

Mexican feeder cattle imports are near 1.2 million head so far in 2024, up 13% from 2023. Canadian numbers, however, are 12% lower, totaling just over 137,000 head, compared to a year ago.

“We just don’t have enough feeder cattle in the U.S., and with restrictions on Mexican cattle, it’s hard to tell where prices will go and how long this will last,” Stewart said.

NWS DETAILS, SYMPTOMS

NWS are fly larvae that infest living tissue of warm-blooded animals, causing infection. According to APHIS, these maggots will burrow into a wound, feeding as they go and doing extensive damage by tearing the host’s tissue with sharp mouth hooks. The wound becomes larger and deeper. NWS can cause serious, even deadly, damage to the animal.

The adult screwworm flies are about the size of a common housefly with orange eyes, a metallic blue or green body, and three dark stripes along their backs.

Affected mammals and birds show signs of irritated behavior, head shaking, smell of decay, evidence of fly strike, and presence of fly larvae in wounds.

APHIS said the best prevention of NWS in the U.S. is to avoid infestation. The agency recommended people be alert to symptoms in pets and livestock, ensure that pets traveling internationally are inspected for screwworm, and to check their vehicles for screwworm flies if they are in an NWS-infested area.

There is a constant threat of NWS due to it being detected so close to the U.S. APHIS is releasing sterile flies through aerial and ground release at strategic locations throughout Central America and is working to eradicate NWS from the affected areas to reestablish the biological barrier in Panama.

Click here to access the full stakeholder announcement from APHIS: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/….

For more information about screwworm, visit https://www.aphis.usda.gov/….

Jennifer Carrico can be reached at jennifer.carrico@dtn.com

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