Trump Admin Ramps Up Fight Against ‘Flesh Eating Parasite’ Threatening US Cattle Industry

The Trump administration shuttered the southern border to all livestock imports on Wednesday to combat the spread of a parasitic larvae that feasts on the live flesh of cattle known as the New World screwworm (NWS).

Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the closure after receiving reports of a new NWS case in Mexico, according to the USDA. Though U.S. officials announced a phased reopening of cattle imports across the southern border in June, Rollins moved forward with a complete shutdown, as an NWS outbreak would ravage the American agriculture industry and spike the cost of beef, field insiders told the 🏢Daily Caller News Foundationpreviously.

“The United States has promised to be vigilant — and after detecting this new NWS case, we are pausing the planned port reopening’s to further quarantine and target this deadly pest in Mexico. We must see additional progress combatting NWS in Veracruz and other nearby Mexican states in order to reopen livestock ports along the Southern border,” Rollins said. “Thanks to the aggressive monitoring by USDA staff in the U.S. and in Mexico, we have been able to take quick and decisive action to respond to the spread of this deadly pest.”

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