Belize and Guatemala Collaborate to Tackle New World Screwworm Outbreak

A high-level bilateral meeting between Belize and Guatemala to discuss the situation of the New World Screwworm was held this morning in Flores, Peten.  The meeting was hosted by the Guatemalan Vice Minister of Agriculture and Livestock for Peten and is being attended by CEO Servulo Baeza of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise.  Discussions in the meeting focus on the situation with the New World Screwworm and the threat it poses to both countries, given that Guatemala has active cases. Cooperation, sharing of information, collaboration, and joint activities are being discussed with a view to work together to deal with the New World Screwworm problem.  Director of Communications for the Ministry, Luis Pook, said that the meeting is critical for Belize’s preparations to combat the screwworm.

Luis Pook, Communications Director, Ministry of Agriculture: “Our CEO attended a meeting morning with his equivalent here in Guatemala for the Peten area, the vice minister of agriculture and livestock here in the Peten area to discuss first of all what the Guatemalans are doing so that we can then learn from what they are doing over here given that they already have the presence of the screw worm. Belize and Guatemala are neighbors, we share a border and it’s important that we are in sync with them so that whatever it is that happens on their side of the border we are aware especially when it comes to detection, when it comes to communication with the general public with the livestock producers and whatever information that they have in general when it comes to how the screw worm is affecting their livestock population so that we then in turn can use that to our advantage. We don’t have the screw worm in Belize but it is in the general area on this side, the Guatemala side of the border. And so it’s important for us to make sure that we keep tabs with the Guatemala ministry of agriculture and livestock over here.”

Pook reiterated that there are no confirmed cases of screwworm in Belize at this time, but the Ministry is acting with the same level of urgency as if there were.

Luis Pook, Communications Director, Ministry of Agriculture: “The ministry participates in regional communication and regional planning for the screw worm. Keeping in mind that Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and even a case has been detected in Mexico. All of these countries have some degree of presence of the screw worm. We want to keep Belize free of the screw worm. Right now only Belize and El Salvador are free. So our purpose with all of these meetings and whatever activities we do in connection with the screw worm is to try to keep that status so that our livestock exports are screw worm free certified and we can continue having the foreign exchange that comes in from that particular trade continue to benefit our Belizean producers. Our minister has told us we have to continue making efforts treating the situation here in Belize as if the screw worm were actually present. It’s not but we have to do everything we can as if it were. So all of the efforts to communicate to both the general public via the talk shows, going house to house informing our producers of what they need to do, making sure that they inspect their cattle on a regular basis, making sure that they’re aware of what the screw worm looks like, what effects it will have on their livestock if they were ever infected and so on. All of these efforts are being made to try to ensure that if we ever do get the screw worm here we can deal with it.”

In a recent interview, CEO Baeza said that Guatemala has at least thirty confirmed cases of the New World Screwworm./