The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on Friday that it will begin reopening the border to Mexican cattle imports on 24 August at the Douglas, Arizona port of entry. The decision marks a partial end to a suspension imposed more than a year ago after the flesh-eating New World screwworm was detected in Mexican livestock. Every animal entering through reopened ports will undergo full USDA inspection to ensure it is free of the parasite, whose larvae feed on the living tissue of warm-blooded hosts.

Viewed from Washington, the move reflects a careful easing of a measure that US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins described as a “tough but necessary action” to protect the American herd. The screwworm, eradicated from the US in 1966, has resurfaced with 42 cases recorded in Texas and New Mexico since early June, while Mexico reports 1,792 active cases across 29 of its 32 states. US officials conditioned the reopening on compliance with a joint action plan and accelerated inspection protocols, with the closest active case to the Arizona port sitting roughly 325 miles away.

In Mexico City, President Claudia Sheinbaum framed the breakthrough as evidence of effective bilateral cooperation, stating she received a letter from Rollins confirming the decision. Sheinbaum said her government will expedite work to restart cattle movement through Sonora, then expand to two additional points in Chihuahua. Sonora Governor Alfonso Durazo attributed the reopening directly to Sheinbaum’s negotiations, noting that before the ban the state exported about 320,000 head of cattle annually. Mexico’s livestock sector estimates the suspension caused multi-million-dollar daily losses, with the regional cattlemen’s union in Sonora reporting roughly US$4 million in foregone exports per day at the peak of the closure.

The gradual reopening will later include the Santa Teresa and Columbus crossings in New Mexico, though no dates have been set. Meanwhile, entomologists at Colorado State University are investigating chemical signals emitted by wound-associated bacteria to develop more precise lures for screwworm traps, aiming to distinguish the parasite from less harmful blowfly species. The 24 August restart at Douglas, Arizona, remains the immediate milestone, as ranchers on both sides of the border await operational details and the prospect of a fully restored cattle trade.