# Flesh-eating screwworm exposes U.S. biosecurity gaps after years of delay

> The New World screwworm spread north from Panama's Darien Gap in 2023 and has infected thousands of animals and people across Mexico and Central America. The United States has no domestic facility capable of producing the sterile flies needed to halt its spread, and current production covers only a fraction of the need. Federal officials admit the outbreak could have been contained sooner.

- Date: 2026-11-11 · published 2026-11-12T06:13:49.036Z
- Category: disease · region US · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/95038-flesh-eating-screwworm-exposes-u-s-biosecurity-gaps-after-years-of-delay
- Commodities: [Live Cattle](https://feedsoft.ai/c/LCATTLE.md)

## Why it matters

Without enough sterile flies, the risk of an incursion into US cattle herds stays elevated, which could cut supply in an already tight market and support live cattle prices. Mexican cattle movements and import controls are also affected.

## Read by commodity

- LCATTLE: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LCATTLE | 2026-05-29 | [Flesh-eating screwworm found within 31 miles of US border, says USDA \| Reuters](https://feedsoft.ai/events/19199-flesh-eating-screwworm-found-within-31-miles-of-us-border-says-usda-reuters.md) | -0.8% | +1.4% |
| LCATTLE | 2025-08-15 | [USDA to build Texas facility to fight flesh-eating screwworms \| Reuters](https://feedsoft.ai/events/23282-usda-to-build-texas-facility-to-fight-flesh-eating-screwworms-reuters.md) | +1.1% | -0.1% |
| LCATTLE | 2025-06-02 | [How flesh-eating screwworms in cattle could raise US beef prices \| Reuters](https://feedsoft.ai/events/24157-how-flesh-eating-screwworms-in-cattle-could-raise-us-beef-prices-reuters.md) | +3.1% | +3.0% |
| LCATTLE | 2025-07-10 | [US again halts cattle imports from Mexico over flesh-eating screwworms \| Reuters](https://feedsoft.ai/events/23700-us-again-halts-cattle-imports-from-mexico-over-flesh-eating-screwworms-reuters.md) | +2.6% | +6.8% |
| LCATTLE | 2026-06-05 | [US races to contain flesh-eating parasite screwworm, reports no further cases](https://feedsoft.ai/events/18948-us-races-to-contain-flesh-eating-parasite-screwworm-reports-no-further-cases.md) | +0.4% | -2.4% |

## Sources

- latinoworldnews.com: https://latinoworldnews.com/flesh-eating-screwworm-exposes-u-s-biosecurity-gaps-after-years-of-delay

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.