WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman David Valadao (CA-22) led a bipartisan delegation in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins, urging the department to implement enhanced surveillance at the California-Mexico border to help secure our country against the threat of New World screwworm (NWS). NWS is a species of parasitic fly that infects livestock and can cause significant damage to our nation’s food supply chain.

“Livestock is one of the Central Valley’s top commodities, and we can’t afford to risk an outbreak of New World screwworm in California,” said Congressman Valadao. “Strengthening surveillance at the California-Mexico border is critical to protecting our herds, and I’m committed to working to defend our producers from this dangerous threat to our food supply chain.”

“On September 21, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that New World screwworm (NWS) had been detected in the Mexican city of Sabinas Hidalgo, less than 70 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Any threat to our nation’s food supply chain is a threat to our national security, and as NWS draws closer to the border, we strongly urge USDA to establish an NWS surveillance program at the California-Mexico border and dedicate additional resources to monitoring and controlling the threat of NWS […] With relatively modest investments, we believe USDA can reinforce our nation’s defenses against the threat of NWS, ensuring that our nation’s people, pets, and livestock remain protected from this devastating pest we worked so hard to eradicate from our territory 60 years ago,” the members wrote.

Congressman Valadao was joined by Reps. Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Jay Obernolte (CA-23), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Vince Fong (CA-20), Jim Costa (CA-21), Doug LaMalfa (CA-01), John Garamendi (CA-08), and Young Kim (CA-40).

Read the full letter here.

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