Dog owners with plans to travel to Mexico from the United States with their pooches got a shock this week when the U.S. Department of Agriculture abruptly halted exports of pet dogs and several other animals due to a screwworm detection.
Fortunately, that quickly changed. Just two days later, on June 10, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued an update clarifying that pet dog travel to Mexico will “proceed according to previously established procedures.”
The initial June 8 directive had caused widespread confusion and anxiety among U.S. pet owners planning trips across the border. But the swift clarification has allowed those plans to move forward.
Why the suspension?
APHIS acted after the first confirmed U.S. cases of New World screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax) in nearly 60 years — including an infected dog in Lea County, New Mexico, that investigators believe may have recently been in Mexico. Screwworm larvae burrow into the flesh of warm-blooded animals, causing severe wounds that can be fatal if untreated.
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