Mexico says US suspension of beef imports because of screwworm is unfair

MEXICO CITY AP Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday described as unfair the decision by the Trump administration to suspend imports of Mexican beef cattle for days due to the detection of screwworm in shipments Sheinbaum who has spent the past sparse months scrambling to offset tariff threats by U S President Donald Trump mentioned she hoped the suspension would not product in another economic blow for her country We do not agree with this measure she mentioned at her morning press conference on Monday The Mexican administration has been working an all fronts from the very first moment we were alerted to the screwworm The U S restricted Mexican cattle shipments in late November following the detection of the pest but lifted the ban in February after protocols were put in place to evaluate the animals prior to entry into the country But there has been an unacceptable northward advancement of the screwworm the U S Department of Agriculture declared in a message Sunday The last time this devastating pest invaded the U S it took our livestock industry years to recover U S Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins noted on the X social media platform This can never happen again The screwworm is a larva of the Cochliomyia hominivorax fly that can invade the tissues of any warm-blooded animal including humans The parasite enters the skin causing serious and life-threatening damage and lesions Mexico s Robustness Ministry issued an epidemiological warning this month after the first human scenario of screwworm myiasis or parasitic infestation was established on April in a -year-old woman living in the southern state of Chiapas