By Heather Schlitz
CHICAGO, June 2 (Reuters) – A parasitic fly that eats warm-blooded animals alive and could cause millions of dollars in economic damage was found in Mexico within 25 miles of the U.S. border, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Tuesday.
The detection of New World Screwworm in a five-year-old goat in Mexico’s Coahuila state further increases the threat facing the U.S. beef industry and cattle ranchers, who have monitored the flesh-eating fly’s northward progress through Mexico for over a year. This is the closest confirmed case to the U.S. border during the most recent outbreak, Rollins told reporters on a call.
“There’s no doubt that this is a very, very serious threat to our livestock,” Rollins said.
USDA said on Friday that screwworm had been found in a young sheep in Mexico within 31 miles (50 km) of the U.S. border.
The fly feeds on the flesh of living animals, eventually killing their hosts if not treated. It could cause $1.8 billion in damage to Texas’ economy alone and would likely raise U.S. beef prices by shrinking the U.S. cattle supply, experts have said.
(Reporting by Heather Schlitz)
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