Posted: Saturday, June 21, 2025. 9:45 am CST.
MAFSE Minister Jose Abelardo Mai (left), BAHA Managing Director Zoe Zetina (middle), and BAHA Director of Animal Health, Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Roxanna Alvarez (right) at New World Screwworm press conference on Thursday, June 19, 2025. Photo Credit: MAFSE
By Rubén Morales Iglesias: Belize’s cattle industry could face economic pressure if the United States maintains its suspension of cattle imports from Mexico due to the rapidly escalating New World Screwworm (NWS) outbreak in the neighbouring country. Speaking at a NWS press conference on Thursday, Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise José Abelardo Mai warned that Belize may also be affected by U.S. trade restrictions should the parasite make further containment breaches in Mexico.
Mexico, now reporting more than 2,000 NWS cases, saw its first detection in November 2024, about a month before Belize recorded its first case. While Belize remains the country with the fewest confirmed cases—160 as of mid-June—the spread northward across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec triggered the US to suspend Mexican cattle exports indefinitely, a position to be reviewed every 30 days.
In addition “APHIS officials are on the ground in Mexico doing an inspection across the country ensuring Mexico is doing all they can to contain the ‘screwworm’,” said Mai. He went on to say that if a binational protocol is finalized between the US and Mexico, Belize could benefit. But if no trade pathway opens for Mexico, we risk being cut off by extension.
Minister Mai pointed out that Belize’s quarantine facility in the Orange Walk District, Belize’s key export point, remains screwworm-free as of Thursday—a fact Minister Mai attributed to the coordinated work of the Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA), the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security, and Enterprise (MAFSE) and international partners such as the International Regional Organization for Plant and Animal Health (OIRSA), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
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