Federal Government rules against screwworm

The screwworm was eradicated in Mexico in 1991 after 19 years of collaborative work with the United States. However, the program was dismantled by the federal government , and since last November, cases have occurred in both livestock and humans; two days ago, the death of a woman was reported in the south of the country.

Following the discovery of the first case last November, the federal government implemented measures such as controlling cattle movement, epidemiological surveillance, treating fresh wounds, health training and education, and dispersing sterile flies. However, these measures did not prevent the closure of cattle exports from Mexico to the United States. These measures, experts say, fall short of the program implemented in the 1990s.

José Antonio Ruelas Pérez, president of the Jalisco Regional Livestock Union, considered the dispersal capacity of sterile flies from the production plant located in Pacora, Panama, to be insufficient.

"It's insufficient. There's no production capacity: it's 100 million flies, when 500 million are needed. This got out of hand for the government because they closed the plant in Chiapas, and now we rely solely on a plant in Panama, which was designed for control, not eradication," he questioned.

The sterile fly method was adopted by Mexico and the United States after signing an agreement in 1972, which created the Mexican-American Commission for the Eradication of the Cattle Screwworm, with the goal of coordinating efforts and resources in the fight against this pest.

In 1976, a sterile fly production plant was established in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, with the capacity to produce 500 million flies per week. Until 1990, 30 aircraft were used to disperse 250 billion sterile flies as part of this strategy.

Now the federal government has agreed to reactivate the production plant in Chiapas , a project that represents a joint investment between Mexico and the United States worth $51 million.

But Juan Carlos Anaya, general director of the Agricultural Markets Consulting Group, questioned the federal government's failure to halt cattle exports from Central America, despite the fact that the new outbreak originated in that region of the continent.

"The illegal entry of livestock from Central America must be prevented, or else ensure that they comply with quarantine, inspection, and treatment protocols."

The specialist indicated that the closure of the U.S. border to Mexican cattle has caused losses valued at up to $800 million, due to the fact that ranchers have stopped exporting approximately 800,000 head of cattle, out of an annual total of 1.2 million.

To date, 2,398 cases have been reported in cattle, in addition to 33 confirmed cases of myiasis, a disease transmitted by this worm to humans.

The reported death corresponds to an 86-year-old woman, originally from the municipality of Candelaria, in the state of Campeche, who presented serious health complications due to myiasis.