UPDATE: Import Alert: New World Screwworm Restrictions for Live Animals Originating from or Transiting Mexico  

UPDATE: Import Alert: New World Screwworm Restrictions for Live Animals Originating from or Transiting Mexico

 

Issuance Date: May 13, 2025

                        1:30 pm, U.S. Eastern

 

Effective Date: May 11, 2025

 

NOTE: On November 22, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Veterinary Services (VS) temporarily suspended the importation of live animals (horses, cattle, and bison) originating from or transiting Mexico based on the confirmation of New World screwworm (NWS) in cattle. APHIS reduced restrictions on January 31, 2025, for animals that imported through APHIS-approved facilities after successfully completing pre-clearance inspection and treatment for screwworm.

 

Effective May 11, 2025, and until further notice, APHIS is once again restricting the importation of live cattle, bison, and horses from Mexico through U.S.-Mexico land border ports, due to the continued northward movement of NWS. For more details, please see the USDA Press Release. Horses may continue to import by air. Importation of bovine germplasm, sheep and goats and their germplasm, and swine and their germplasm from Mexico remains prohibited.

 

Horses entering the United States from Mexico by air that originate from or have resided in Mexico within the 60 days immediately preceding export to the United States must complete the established import screwworm protocol. The protocol and required health documentation are available at: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/live-animal-import/import-horses-mexico. This includes pre-export treatment and examination, as well as treatment, examinations, and a 7-day quarantine in a permanent import quarantine facility upon arrival. Horses transiting Mexico will be required to complete screwworm mitigations upon arrival. Please note that horses that have resided in a screwworm-free country for a minimum of 7 days after residing in Mexico do not need to complete the screwworm protocol, if they are then examined by a veterinarian authorized to do so, found free of screwworm, and certification of this examination accompanies the horses upon arrival to the United States.

 

APHIS will continue to allow the importation of dogs from Mexico if accompanied by a health certificate signed by a veterinarian trained and approved by the Mexican Competent Authority (SENASICA). The certificate must state that the animal has been inspected for screwworm within 5 days prior to shipment to the United States and the animal is either free from screwworm OR was found to be infested with screwworm, held in quarantine, and treated until free from screwworm prior to the certificate being issued and the dog being exported to the United States. SENASICA maintains a list of approved veterinarians online at: https://www.gob.mx/senasica/documentos/directorio-de-mvra-en-clinicas-y-hospitales- veterinarios?state=published.

 

Specific information about live animal import requirements for all species regulated by APHIS VS can be found at: www.aphis.usda.gov/live-animal-import. A list of regions APHIS recognizes as affected by screwworm can be found on the USDA APHIS Animal Health Status of Regions website.

 

For additional information about live animal imports regulated by other Agencies, please check with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, and/or USDA APHIS Animal Care to ensure import requirements of those agencies are met, when applicable.

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