Belize Confirms Second Case of New World Screwworm

Belize confirmed its second case of New World Screwworm. Minister of Agriculture Jose Abelardo Mai told News 5 today the second case was detected on Sunday in San Pedro Columbia Village in the Toledo District. He said that the ministry is still investigating how this second case may have been introduced into the country.

A team has been deployed to the village and launched a campaign to monitor and control the situation. “We have a dozen people or more on the ground that are doing a house-to-house and farm-to-farm campaign to ensure there are no more cases on the ground,” Mai said.

The first case was confirmed on December 30, 2024, when the Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA) reported that a six-month-old Brangus heifer on a farm in Crique Sarco, Belize, had a suspicious wound on her right ear, near her ear tag. Upon closer inspection, fifty-nine larvae were removed from the wound.

Mai also pointed out that the recent restrictions imposed by the U.S. following the detection of the first case do not affect Belize “in no way, shape, or form,” since Belize does not export livestock to the United States.