Invasion of flesh-eating worms threatens US beef supply: USDA

The threat to our food supply lurks at the US-Mexico border.

A dreaded parasite that hasn’t penetrated North America for more than a century has re-emerged in Mexico, the US Department of Agriculture has warned.

Health officials in Mexico alerted the US to a recent New World screwworm infestation in a cow from Chiapas during an inspection near the Guatemalan border.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, maggot flies prefer to nest around fresh wounds in warm-blooded animals — as well as humans — depositing hundreds of eggs that hatch into flesh-eating larvae.

If the eggs hatch, the larvae can infect the bloodstream, a condition called myiasis, and begin to consume their host from the inside out.

USDA is asking livestock producers to closely monitor their livestock and pets and report their suspicions immediately until further notice.

Myiasis is an extremely painful disease characterized by the presence of worms, a foul odor, or lesions and sores that do not seem to heal.

The USDA’s concerns come just decades after health agencies in the US, Mexico and other Central American countries spent $800 million to eradicate the screwworm. However, an increase in illegal cattle traffic across these countries is putting consumers at risk of seeing a resurgence of the parasite.

“With this latest finding in Mexico, we will further intensify this work to protect American agriculture and restore the barrier in Central America,” said US Veterinarian Dr. Rosemary Sifford, the Daily Mail reported Friday.

Officials reported that the latest outbreak began in Nicaragua and traveled for two and a half months through Honduras and Guatemala before spreading to cattle in southern Mexico.

“The evidence directly links the illegal cattle trade to the worm’s resurgence,” Jeremy Radachowsky, the Wildlife Conservation Society’s regional director for Mesoamerica, told the Daily Mail. “Bypassing health checks, often with stressed, malnourished and injured cattle, cattle smuggling creates ideal conditions for the cross-border transmission of diseases, including brucellosis, tuberculosis and parasites such as screwworm.”

Not to mention the risk of disease to individuals, such an infestation would be “catastrophic,” the WCS warned, taking decades to eradicate and costing billions of US dollars.

The US has banned Mexican beef exports amid further investigations, while farmers implement strict protocols to combat the virus, such as extra inspections, deworming procedures and washing animals with pesticides to eliminate larvae before they become infected.

WCS said, “Only bold and coordinated international action can protect biodiversity, save billions in public expenditure and livestock losses, and prevent a crisis from spiraling out of control.”