By Leah Douglas
WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) – U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Wednesday that the Department of Agriculture is preparing to reopen a New Mexico port to livestock trade next week after it was closed because of New World screwworm.
Rollins said during remarks at the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture conference in Portland, Maine, that she plans to travel to New Mexico on Wednesday night.
“We’re getting ready to reopen that New Mexico port next week,” Rollins said.
The USDA in late August resumed cross-border livestock trade with Mexico under a phased port reopening that began in Douglas, Arizona, after months of closures due to concerns about the spread of the screwworm parasite.
According to the agency, there are currently two active screwworm infestations, both in Texas, one in a horse and one in a dog.
“What you all have proven for the last 20 plus days in Douglas is that this is manageable and doable, and the minute we believe there’s another threat, we shut it down again,” Rollins said.
(Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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