Coverage of the New World screwworm outbreak affecting livestock in Mexico. Reports on containment efforts, agricultural impact, US-Mexico cooperation, and the threat to cattle industry.
Sonora
Screwworm is marching north through Mexican livestock corridors while the US border stays shut on Sonora cattle exports. The state cattle union is patrolling two fronts at once with 1.9 million head on the line.
Chiapas
Deep in the jungles of Chiapas, a new factory is pumping out millions of sterile flies. The plan: release them into the wild, let them mate with the screwworm parasite, and watch the population collapse.
Beef
When the U.S. shut its border to live cattle from Mexico over a parasite, ranchers did something the market did not expect: they fattened their cattle at home and sold them as packaged meat. Exports jumped 23 to 30 percent.