The threat of New World Screwworm (NWS) flights considered eradicated from the country since 1966 - after the outbreak in Mexico, it was believed to have been eradicated from the country.
The news sparked a closure of cattle, horse and bison imports along the southern border, as USDA secretary Brooke Rollins announced in an X post on Sunday.
"Due to the threat of New World Screwworm, I announced the suspension of live cattle, horses and bison imports at ports of entry on the southern U.S. border are effective immediately," she wrote in the Post.
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"This devastating pest invaded the United States last time and our cattle industry has recovered for 30 years. It's impossible to happen again."
According to the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency (Aphis), the NWS is a fly in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and some South American countries, in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and some South American countries.
The New World's Screwworm Fly or Screwworm is a parasitic fly known for its larvae (maggots) eating the living tissues of animals. (iStock)
Although the flies themselves were found in forests and other forest areas, according to the above information, they will look for cattle or horses and others in pastures and fields.
Female fly places eggs in wounds or holes of live, warm-blooded animals. The eggs then hatch into larvae (mag) that drills into the flesh, causing potentially fatal damage.
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Screwworms are named after the behavior of magma because they drill into the flesh, similar to the way they drive screws into wood.
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"Maggots cause extensive damage by tearing the tissues of the host with sharp mouth hooks," the Aphis website said. This can then expand the wound and attract more flies to lay eggs.
Female fly place eggs in wounds or orifices of blood vessels according to the above sources. The eggs then hatch into larvae (mag) that drills into the flesh, causing potentially fatal damage. (Alamy)
In rare cases, larvae can feed on humans, disease control and preventive status.
These infestations can be very painful and can cause serious fatal damage to the host by causing myopathy, causing parasitic infections to fly larvae in human tissues.
Screwworms are usually found in South America and the Caribbean.
"People who go to these areas, spend time among livestock animals, sleep outdoors and open wounds are at greater risk," the CDC said.
"A wound as small as a tick can attract female feeding."
The above source said people with low immune function, very young or malnourished, also have a higher risk of infection.
Those who have recently undergone surgery are also at a higher risk, and "flies lay eggs on open sores," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.
The USDA warns that if another outbreak occurs in the U.S., “pets, livestock, wildlife and even humans may suffer from screwworm disease,” the USDA warns.
The USDA estimates that due to the NWS in the 1950s and 1960s, livestock producers in the Southwest lost between $50 million and $100 million a year until successfully eliminating. (iStock)
The USDA estimates that due to the NWS in the 1950s and 1960s, livestock producers in the Southwest lost between $50 million and $100 million a year until successfully eliminating.
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"These higher losses in the Southwest are presumably due to higher livestock populations, larger geographical areas and/or greater potential for NWS overwintering," the report said.
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Although the USDA eliminated the NWS in 1966, an outbreak broke out in the Florida Key in 2016. It was affected only in endangered deer populations and was eliminated by Aphis in March 2017.
Greg Wehner contributed the report.