Belize Confirms 90 Screwworm Cases in Ongoing Public Health Fight

Belize, the last Central American nation to remain free of the parasitic screwworm, has now confirmed 90 cases. Despite the numbers increasing steadily, Belize still reports the lowest number of cases in Central America, the incursion marks a significant public health and agricultural concern. The screwworm a flesh-eating parasite, infects warm-blooded animals and sometimes humans. Since the first confirmed case late last year, authorities have ramped up efforts to contain the outbreak. Quarantine zones have been established in affected rural areas, and a nationwide public awareness campaign has been launched to educate farmers, pet owners, and the general public on early detection and prevention. Love News spoke with the Minister of Agriculture, Jose Abelardo Mai, who said that they are acting swiftly to prevent widespread transmission and protect our livestock industry, which is a vital part of our economy.

Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture: “We have close to 90 cases in Belize. 90 cases. But very important to mention that while Belize was the last of the last country to be contaminated with screwworms, we are also the country in Central America with the least cases of screwworms even though we have not dispersed any sterile flies to control it. So all the efforts of the ground that BAHA is doing in agriculture, BLPA, IICA, OIRSA, all the efforts are on the ground and that has worked very well for us. We have only 90 cases. I want you to understand, Mexico was contaminated or infected one month before this. There are at a thousand plus cases today. We, one month after they were infected we are at only 90 cases and that’s because Mexico is dispersing sterile flies in the millions. We have not received a single sterile fly from the USDA AFIS plan. And so all the efforts to contain, contain the spread of screwworm is done on the ground by our people. So they are doing a fantastic job in trying to contain the screwworm cases in Belize.” 

Despite the sudden presence of the screwworm, Belize’s relatively low case count is seen as a testament to the country’s early detection systems and proactive surveillance. Regional cooperation efforts are now being strengthened, with Belize working alongside international partners to deploy sterile insect techniques and cross-border monitoring to suppress the parasite’s spread. Mai expressed that for now, Belize remains cautiously optimistic but vigilant.

Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture: “Experts in the region believe that I think we’ve done well without the sterile flies. Others believe that the sterile flies are not working the way they should be working in Mexico and so maybe it’s a blessing in disguise that we are not dispersing the sterile flies because if the sterile flies are not working well then it just continues to propagate or expand the population of fertile screwworms. So we are looking at it carefully. Mexico is not convinced that the sterile flies are working, Nicaragua, Honduras is not, Costa Rica is not and if you look at it Belize hasn’t dispersed any sterile flies and we’re at 90 cases. Wherever they have dispersed flies they’re above a thousand and greater, thousands in Costa Rica, thousands in Nicaragua, Mexico is also thousands. We have not dispersed flies and we’re at 90 cases only. So it puzzles everyone what’s going on here something is wrong. So maybe not dispersing sterile flies is a good thing at this time but we are yet to see; I have a visit from the regional coordinator this week on Thursday and we will discuss these same matters.”

The first screwworm case was recorded in Belize on December 26, 2024.