What does New World Screwworm in southern states like Texas and New Mexico mean for cattle producers in the northern states? Randy Romanski, the Wisconsin Secretary of Agriculture, said the best thing to do right now is to be vigilant.
“For those who are hearing this, maybe for the first time, New World Screwworm, as of right now, is primarily contained to Texas, and there’s one case in New Mexico as well, close to the Mexico border. That’s where there’s been a lot of activity, and so far we haven’t seen it move from there. I think the important thing that we, as Wisconsin and the Midwestern states, need to do is, number one, gather information and share information. Be vigilant. Our animal health team here is always on their game and working with the industry and talking about biosecurity.”
He said there is a plan in place to prevent the spread of New World Screwworm.
“USDA has a playbook, and states are looking to that at least as the starting point for how do we prevent spread from one place to the next. So, Texas has some movement restrictions on itself. Other states are looking at that as a potential measure of protection, and we’re being vigilant as well. The thing that’s interesting about this one, and you know this, is that it can affect mammals. So, the one case in New Mexico was a dog, and so it’s something that we have to not only as we look at responsible and responsive approaches to preventing movements, we have to look at how do we protect all animals, including companion animals.”
States like Wisconsin will see a lot of cattle movement for the World Dairy Expo. Romanski said discussions are already underway on potential precautions.
“We are talking about what our best way to protect the industry is here. So, those are the kinds of things that we need to be thinking about, and how can we protect the animals, protect the industry here and elsewhere in a responsible way? So, we’re having conversations about that, we’re being vigilant, and we’re talking to other states and the USDA on a regular basis. For those who are looking for more information about New World Screwworm, our website has information about it. We’ve done webinars with veterinarians, and we’ve talked to people in the industry, so communication is our first form of activity, and then we’ll have to look at how our state follows the USDA playbook, but make sure that we’ve got those boundaries in place to be preventive for events like that, and for every other day of the week, too.”