On June 6th, the Missouri Department of Agriculture announced that the Missouri Highway Patrol, the Missouri Attorney General, and the Missouri Department of Agriculture are investigating false claims that the New World Screwworm is in Missouri.
The New World Screwworm had been eradicated from the US in the 1960’s. It had been contained south of Mexico until 2022. However, it then turned up in two Mexican provinces and there is a widespread fear in the agriculture community that it will return to the US at some point. The USDA estimates that the cattle industry saves $3 billion per year thanks to the eradication of this pest.
On May 9th, we printed an opinion piece from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association discussing concerns regarding what they saw as the Mexican Government’s lack of response to the problem and even actively denying flights carrying sterile flies permission to land. However, that piece made no references to the New World Screwworm being in Missouri or even the US.
On May 27th, KTTN printed a press release that falsely stated that the New World Screwworm was already in Missouri. The station subsequently retracted the post, but the Missouri Department of Agriculture says that the publication of that piece set off a frenzy of animal health concerns, market scare, and detriment to consumer trust.
The Missouri Attorney General, Highway Patrol, and Department of Agriculture are seeking to determine whether the source of the false information was a malicious actor deliberately seeking to create panic in agricultural markets.
As flies, the New World Screwworm lays eggs in the wounds of cattle. The larvae burrow into the skin of calves, causing injury and sometimes death. Before it was eradicated, producers had to monitor their animals constantly.
No comments:
Post a Comment