US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins Tuesday provided an update on the US Department of Agriculture’s ongoing partnership with Mexico to combat the New World Screwworm.
Although the fly is native to the Americans, the USDA suspended livestock imports from Mexico to prevent the spread of the pest into the US. This suspension is to continue on a month-to-month basis until a significant window of containment is achieved, according to the USDA.
GOING FORWARD WITH ERRADICATION
USDA Secretary Rollins held a call with her counterpart in Mexico, Secretary Julio Berdegue Sacristan, to discuss the ongoing threat of NWS and actions being taken by both countries to contain the threat, a USDA release said. The USDA is working with Mexico to make sure the resources, tactics and tools are in place to eradicate NWS.
Additionally, Secretary Rollins announced today the USDA is investing $21 million to renovate an existing fruit fly production facility in Metapa, Mexico, to further the long-term goal of eradicating this insect, the USDA said. When operational, the facility will produce 60 to 100 million additional sterile NWS flies weekly to push the population further south in Mexico.
Given the geographic spread of NWS, this additional production capacity will be critical to the dual response, the USDA said.
WHAT IS IT?
The Texas Farm Bureau said in a release that New World Screwworm is a flesh-eating parasite that targets warm-blooded animals, including cattle, horses, sheep, goats, birds, wildlife and pets. Other sources said the fly can affect humans.
The screwworm lays eggs near open wounds and mucous membranes. When the eggs hatch, the larvae burrow into living tissue, feeding as they grow and causing painful, often deadly wounds, the Texas Farm Bureau said.
Once common across the southern US, the screwworm was eradicated in the 1960s, the Texas Farm Bureau said.
The maggots burrow into living tissue, feeding as they go, like a screw being driven into wood, the Farm Bureau said. They have a series of backwardly protruding spines around a tapered body, giving a screw-like appearance.
They cause extensive damage by tearing at the host’s tissue with sharp mouth hooks. The wound can become larger as more maggots hatch and feed.
The opening wound also allows bacteria to infect the host.
The adult screwworm flies are about the size of a common housefly, but they have orange eyes and metallic blue or green body and three dark stripes along their backs.
Internet sources said eradication efforts in the 1950s led to the use of sterile, which would mate with wild females, resulting in no offspring. This worked because the female will only mate with one male.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
The USDA reported formula and contract base prices for live FOB steers and heifers this week ranged from $220.00 per cwt to $230.32, compared with last week’s range of $219.93 to $230.32 per cwt. FOB dressed steers, and heifers went for $348.05 per cwt to $359.73, compared with $344.06 to $364.74.
The USDA choice cutout Thursday was up $0.67 per cwt at $366.09 while select was up $1.90 at $353.64. The choice/select spread narrowed to $12.45 from $13.68 with 88 loads of fabricated product and 30 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The USDA-listed the weighted average wholesale price for fresh 90% lean beef was $381.70 per cwt, and 50% beef was $131.92.
The USDA said basis bids for corn from feeders in the Southern Plains were unchanged at $1.15 to $1.25 a bushel over the Jul corn contract, which settled at $4.47, down $0.04.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Wednesday was $297.75 per cwt, up $1.91. This compares with Thursday’s Aug contract settlement of $299.92, up $4.30.