Trump administration moves to shield cattle industry from ‘flesh-eating parasite’

(Daily Caller News Foundation) – The Trump administration is moving to combat the spread of New World screwworm (NWS), a type of parasitic larvae that feasts on the live flesh of cattle that could plague American livestock, damage several agricultural industries and hike the price of beef if it were to migrate to the U.S.

Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a new comprehensive strategy to counter the threat on Wednesday, including construction of a major domestic lab to fight the spread of the New World screwworm (NWS) by producing sterile flies. The pest has been ravaging nations below the southern border, and U.S. officials have been working in collaboration with Mexico and Panama to slow the spread and administer solutions by halting live cattle imports and producing sterile flies needed to push the parasites back, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported previously.

“The United States has defeated NWS before and we will do it again,” Rollins said. “We do not take lightly the threat NWS poses to our livestock industry, our economy, and our food supply chain. The United States government will use all resources at its disposal to push back NWS, and today’s announcement of a domestic strategy to bolster our border defenses is just the beginning. We have the proven tools, strong domestic and international partnerships, and the grit needed to win this battle.”

The announced “five-pronged plan” includes investing in Mexico’s fight against the pest, increasing “vigilance” at the southern border, paving the way to partner with federal, state and local officials as needed, building a domestic sterile screwworm facility in South Texas and investing in new technology to combat NWS, according to the USDA.

“Mother Nature gave us a favor,” Colin Woodall, chief executive officer of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association previously told the DCNF, noting that the pest is eradicated through unleashing sterile flies in areas where screwworms are active that will cause them to die out as they go through their lifecycle. “This pest is a flesh-eating parasite, and we need to make sure that we can protect ourselves and ultimately eradicate it once it gets to the United States.”

The Panama-U.S. Commission for the Eradication and Prevention of the Cattle Borer Worm (COPEG) lab in Panama has been making millions of sterile flies weekly, and the USDA previously pledged to invest $21 million into renovating a production facility in Mexico as well.

The pest is causing major concern in the U.S. cattle industry, and some observers are worried that the lab in Panama is not producing enough sterile flies fast enough to effectively eradicate screwworm, Woodall said.

“We know that our efforts will likely require more sterile flies than the facilities in Panama, and eventually, Mexico, can produce,” a USDA spokesperson previously told the DCNF. “Mexico has been and will continue to be a key partner as we work to eradicate New World screwworm; we cannot do this alone.”

A screwworm outbreak in the 1960’s was alleviated through the same method of unleashing sterile flies, though not before the cattle industry suffered a multi-million-dollar loss.