A new case of New World screwworm (NWS) in Sabinas Hidalgo, located in the state of Nuevo León, less than 70 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, was detected on Sept. 21, 2025.
This is the northernmost detection of NWS during this outbreak. Sabinas Hidalgo is located near the major highway from Monterrey, Nuevo León, to Laredo, Texas, one of the most heavily trafficked commercial thoroughfares in the world.
"Protecting the United States from NWS is nonnegotiable and a top priority of the Trump administration,” says U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins, in a news release. “This is a national security priority. We have given Mexico every opportunity and every resource necessary to counter NWS since announcing the NWS Bold Plan in June 2025. Nevertheless, American ranchers and families should know that we will not rely on Mexico to defend our industry, our food supply or our way of life. We are firmly executing our five-pronged plan and will take decisive action to protect our borders, even in the absence of cooperation. Furthermore, we will pursue aggressive measures against anyone who harms American livestock.”
The news release continues to state, “The previous northernmost detection was reported on July 9, 2025, in Veracruz, approximately 370 miles farther south. Preliminary reports from SENASICA [Mexico's Service for the National Health for Food Safety and Food Quality] indicate that the affected animal – an 8-month-old cow – had recently been moved to a certified feedlot in Nuevo León from a region in southern Mexico with known active NWS cases. The potential link to animal movement underscores the nonnegotiable need for Mexico to fully implement and comply with the U.S.-Mexico Joint Action Plan for NWS in Mexico.”
“It is extremely concerning for the American cattle industry that New World screwworm has moved so far north in Mexico and now is just 70 miles from the border,” says Colin Woodall, National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) CEO, in a news release. “The speed that screwworm has moved through Mexico is a reminder that this pest poses a critical and urgent threat to America’s cattle producers.… With the threat so close, we need more sterile fly dispersal to push this pest back from our border. Now is the time for [the] USDA to expedite construction of the domestic sterile fly facility and eradicate this pest from our doorstep. We also ask [the] USDA to continue holding Mexico accountable and urge them to reduce animal movements that could spread screwworm north. NCBA is also urging the Environmental Protection Agency to authorize new pesticide products to combat screwworm and provide another tool for American cattle producers.”
Additional information can be found on the USDA website.
