Screwworm infests US horse before port reopens to Mexican livestock

By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO, Sept 17 (Reuters) – The U.S. confirmed a case of New World screwworm in a horse in New Mexico on Thursday, as the federal government prepared to resume imports of Mexican livestock into the state after blocking trade in an attempt to keep out the flesh-eating parasite.

Screwworm infested a horse in Grant County, New Mexico, in the southwest corner of the state near the Mexican border, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website. It was the state’s second confirmed case since screwworm entered the U.S. from Mexico in June.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Wednesday that USDA was preparing to reopen a New Mexico port of entry to livestock trade next week after it was closed because of screwworm.

Jenny Green, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, said on Thursday she had no immediate update about whether the latest case would affect those plans. USDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. halted livestock imports from Mexico last year to keep out screwworm but resumed trade last month at an Arizona port as part of a phased reopening plan. The halt helped tighten U.S. cattle supplies and push beef prices to record highs for American consumers.

Rollins held a news conference at the Santa Teresa, New Mexico, port on Thursday to discuss plans to reopen trade there on September 24. The horse case had not been confirmed at the time of the news conference, the New Mexico Department of Agriculture said.

Last week, the first U.S. horse to be infested with screwworm was detected in southern ​Texas near the Mexican border.

Reuters has reported on growing concerns that smuggled animals, including horses, could be possible hosts for screwworm. Green said officials were investigating how the horse in New Mexico became infested.

The U.S. has three active screwworm cases, including the horses in New Mexico and Texas and a dog in Texas, according to USDA. A previous screwworm outbreak killed thousands of animals in the U.S. before the pest was declared ​eradicated in the 1960s.

(Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Stephen Coates)