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Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread

usda.gov

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Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread

#61

Post by ajmurmann »

tomrod wrote: post #54
ajmurmann wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it "used to be"? I've heard about the program before and thought it was incredible. What happened to it? Edit: Brief research tells me the screwworms broke though to Mexico in November 2024 after cases started increasing north of the Darian Gap throughout 2023 ( https://www.aphis.usda.gov/news/program-update/new-world-scr... ). It does seem like the funding now is happening through USDA rather than USAID ( htt…

[flagged]

I have no idea. It certainly seems insanely careless to me to defund something like this but I haven't found anything in my brief research that gives me an idea of the impact. Intuitively I'd expect that to show up in the data a little later (assuming that data is still being collected)

Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread

#62

Post by asacrowflies »

literalAardvark wrote: post #58
cogman10 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first sign of spread past panama was seen in Nov 2024. Parasites can spread fast and the US/Mexico needed to react fast to the fact that it spread past panama. In a critical time when monitoring and action were desperately needed, we eliminated the agency that'd do that.

It wasn't a critical time, it was late. If there had been any political will for this things would have been set in motion since 2023, likely even before that when the reports from the scientists working on control started pouring in. Blaming a few weeks of funding lapse one year into an outbreak in a control project that's been running for decades is absurd. From a link in this thread: However, since 2023, cases hav…

Late is still a critical time...perhaps more critical.

Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread

#63

Post by cogman10 »

literalAardvark wrote: post #58
cogman10 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first sign of spread past panama was seen in Nov 2024. Parasites can spread fast and the US/Mexico needed to react fast to the fact that it spread past panama. In a critical time when monitoring and action were desperately needed, we eliminated the agency that'd do that.

It wasn't a critical time, it was late. If there had been any political will for this things would have been set in motion since 2023, likely even before that when the reports from the scientists working on control started pouring in. Blaming a few weeks of funding lapse one year into an outbreak in a control project that's been running for decades is absurd. From a link in this thread: However, since 2023, cases hav…

Fair point.

The cost to fight this back will definitely exponentially increase.

Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread

#64

Post by andsoitis »

Noumenon72 wrote: post #55
throwup238 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funding was recently cut but this infestation has been building for years. The key failure that caused this current outbreak was during COVID. The lockdowns shut down both the release flights by the US and the mosquito breeding facilities in Latina America, grinding the whole pest control program to a halt.

Someone must have decided they weren't "essential". Big mistake.

Not essential. We can eat less beef. Better for health, the environment.

Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread

#65

Post by mc32 »

neom wrote: post #9

I'd never head of screwworm before, turns out it's not a worm, this page is pretty decent: https://cr.usembassy.gov/sections-offices/aphis/screwworm-pr... "A screwworm infestation is caused by larvae of the fly Cochliomyia hominivorax. These larvae can infest wounds of any warm-blooded animal, including human beings. The screwworm fly is about twice the size of a regular house fly and can be distinguished by its gree…

The key to managing this pest [edit: after it breaches the isthmus program] is through active monitoring, treating infested wounds as well as conducting castration and dehorning in less active months. It’s not like cattle herds didn’t exist prior to the 1950s.

Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread

#69

Post by jaian »

progbits wrote: post #41
kriops wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Implied) invalid generalization, or confirmation bias. This is a good reason to not eat that particular meat. In general, however, meat is an S-tier source of nutrition, vitamins, and minerals.

How can something which is horribly inefficient for environment (water use, land use, greenhouse emissions from fertilizer) possibly be S tier?

Because that's not what we are talking about.

Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread

#70

Post by progbits »

kriops wrote: post #57
progbits wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can something which is horribly inefficient for environment (water use, land use, greenhouse emissions from fertilizer) possibly be S tier?

What a weird question, if it was at all genuine. Not only is it not inefficient but, e.g., cows are absolutely unique and amazing for their ability to digest, e.g., grass into something that is highly nutritiously desirable for humans.

https://ourworldindata.org/land-use-diets

What you say is maybe true but irrelevant. We don't have to grow grass.

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