<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Just as </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/us-beef-import-bans-to-australia-lifted-amid-tariff-battles/40996642-b0be-4352-b065-ea82ed960190" rel="" target="" title="Australia lifts its biosecurity ban on US beef"><span>Australia lifts its biosecurity ban on US beef</span></a><span>, including cattle raised in Mexico and Canada but slaughtered in the States, ranchers in southern Mexico are fighting against a flesh-eating parasite infecting livestock.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Albanese government insisted the decision was made purely for scientific reasons after a decade-long review, and not to appease US President Donald Trump, who had complained about Australia's restrictions.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At the same time, Mexican cattle has again been barred from the US over fears of the spread of the New World screwworm fly.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/autralia-united-kingdom-aukus-treaty-50-years-united-states-review/9176bc47-cb9d-444a-90ad-476a5da68e3b" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Australia, UK to sign deal to strengthen AUKUS for half a century</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The flesh-eating parasite burrows into animals and can cause serious to deadly damage, according to the US Department of Agriculture.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It can cause devastating impacts to livestock and is currently rapidly spreading across the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala and Central America.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The US Department of Agriculture has issued an alert about the outbreaks.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/ranchers-in-southern-mexico-are-struggling-against-a-flesheating-parasite-infecting-livestock/4d160b20-7934-4100-b327-b832fe3566bb" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Mexico is building a plant with US support in Chiapas to produce sterile flies, which have proven effective at stopping the spread, but it won’t be ready until next year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Meanwhile, the price of medicines used to treat livestock infected with the screwworm has soared.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That has led some to fall back on home remedies like applying gasoline or lime to open wounds to coax out the worms.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In addition to the cost of the medicine, treatment requires careful monitoring and usually involves multiple courses.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/palestine-israel-albanese-calls-out-israel-over-humanitarian-catastrophe-in-gaza/8db1049d-b278-4f60-b424-b0204fce588c" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Albanese condemns Israel's denial of aid in Gaza as indefensible</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Any open wound, even very small ones, are an invitation to the fly to lay its eggs.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The outbreak comes as Australian farmers have been raising concerns about the risk of importing Mexican beef via the United States following the relaxation of biosecurity controls.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I wouldn't think that Mexico would have the best biosecurity so why take that risk?" Macka's Angus director Robert Mackenzie said on Thursday. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Nationals and Cattle Australia have called for an independent scientific review of lifting the biosecurity ban.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There is simply too much at stake when it comes to Australia's world-leading biosecurity status not to get a second opinion," Cattle Australia chief executive Will Evans said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"If the department and the government are confident in that decision they've made, they have nothing to fear," Nationals leader David Littleproud said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>US companies wanting to export beef to Australia will need to apply for accreditation from the Department of Agriculture, which will assess whether they meet the nation's tough biosecurity standards.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A blanket ban was placed on beef imports from the US more than 20 years after an outbreak of mad cow disease.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In 2019, that ban was partially lifted for cattle raised and slaughtered in the US, but not for cattle raised in Canada and Mexico but slaughtered in the US – which effectively still barred American beef from Australia.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Yesterday, the Albanese government confirmed it will lift the biosecurity restriction.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ahead of Australia lifting its ban, the US has put improved cattle tracing protocols in place recently, allowing local authorities to better react to disease outbreaks.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump reacted to the news by saying the US is going to "sell so much to Australia", but the Australian beef industry does not expect the foreign exports to have much impact on the domestic market. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/families-paying-over-1-million-dollars-more-for-houses-in-good-school-catchments/11e00b71-6e6b-4b74-8598-fccaf83d10ef" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>X-factor making some homes $1.3 million dearer than neighbours</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Mexican ranchers fight against outbreak of flesh-eating bacteria</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Veterinarian Alfredo Chávez left Chiapas to study in 1989, so he says he missed seeing the effects of that outbreak, but now he has seen cases multiply in his corner of the state over the past month.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He has heard of dozens of cases in the area now and treated about a dozen himself.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It’s not just cows either — sheep, pigs, cats, and dogs are targets as well.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Armed with a pair of blue tweezers and an aerosol spray that helps draw the maggots out, Chávez moves from animal to animal.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He puts maggots in plastic tubes as samples, which he provides to agricultural authorities.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But beyond providing the tubes and encouraging ranchers to report cases, he said that the government hasn't provided much help.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“We’ve faced it alone,” he said on Wednesday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The US had just gradually started to reopen the border to cattle imports this month after an earlier suspension in May, when the Trump administration said that it would close it again after an infected animal was found in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-australia-united-states-beef-export-ban/3ca46c1c-f82b-4612-90a4-9e37ac8bcc97" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>'We are going to sell so much to Australia': Trump reacts to Aussie beef ban</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While prevalent in Central America, the concern is that the fly is moving north.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>US officials worry that if the fly reaches Texas, its maggots could cause large economic losses, something that happened decades ago.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ranch caretaker Edi Valencia Santos said that Mexican government officials have come to his community to talk to people with livestock, but so far without resources.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He has had five infected animals on the ranch.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Despite cattle in this region going to domestic consumption rather than to the US, the presence of the screwworm in Mexico has frozen cattle exports to the US nationwide.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Valencia said that he remembers the small planes distributing sterile flies during those earlier outbreaks, so is optimistic they will eventually help, but for now the costs are piling up on ranchers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“It’s a big, big problem in Chiapas,” he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a 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