Agriculture Authorities Ramp Up Efforts to Prevent New World Screwworm Outbreak

As part of ongoing efforts to prevent the New World Screwworm from entering Belize, agriculture authorities are ramping up public awareness campaigns. Yesterday, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security, and Enterprise, along with the Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA), issued a joint statement reminding the public that Statutory Instrument 143 of 2024 is in effect. This SI mandates the inspection of livestock and the immediate reporting of any suspected cases to authorities. Belarmino Esquivel, Director of Livestock for the Ministry, stated that authorities have been cracking down on the illegal export of livestock through unauthorized border entry points. Esquivel emphasized that the screwworm could have devastating effects on the livestock sector, and Belize is treating the situation with urgency, as though a case has already been detected.

Belarmino Esquivel, Director of Livestock, MAFSE: “So we have been doing, like I said, intensification also and strengthening our control movement points that we have on vulnerable areas or risk areas, Bullet Tree, Halactae we man them 24 hours to ensure that every movement of animal is being looked at, is inspected, and we are ensuring that animals that are moving within the country are free of any laceration or of any infestation. And what is very important to note is that we don’t usually import much of our cattle. We also have, we are very vigilant on what we import, animals that we import. But we are, we import very little to nothing right now because of the threat that is there. Most of our cattle goes out. This is not a transit country for cattle to go to Mexico. So we don’t have that. So the risk is minimized to a certain extent. So the restriction movement controls, in terms of movement controls, in terms of sensitization and public awareness, we have enhanced, we have strengthened, and we have also mobilized funding from our government. Government has given us the necessary funding for us to equip our officers, for us to equip if we need equipment, if we need infrastructure, the funds are there to act upon. We are acting as if we have screwworm. We don’t have screwworm, but we have been proactive and if screwworm should hit Belize, which we don’t want, but if it should enter Belize, we already have the movement controls.  We are way ahead of the game in terms of public awareness, in terms of sensitization. We have devised the correct strategies and we have the correct protocols and the plan of action to prevent because we’re on a prevention mode but if it enters, we have the plans that have been developed.”

BAHA and the Ministry also reminded the public that it is an offense to contravene the SI and that doing so could result in a fine of five thousand dollars or up to three years in prison. The SI was enacted on November 8.