A plague with more rise than cryptocurrencies (and less desired)
It seems that in Mexico we have a new economic growth index, and no, we are not talking about GDP. We are referring to the unstoppable rise of the screwworm, that small uninvited tenant that has achieved an increase of 5.2% in just 11 days. An efficiency that any startup would envy. Meanwhile, the country accumulates the not inconsiderable number of 11,516 cases of this charming disease. And the government response? A budget silence for 2026 so deafening that even ranchers can hear it over the buzzing of the flies.
Statistics, always so democratic, show us that the plague is a true social inclusion in the animal kingdom. It has managed to “infect” –pun intended– 8,415 cattle, 1,451 dogs, 604 swine, 564 horses, 311 sheep, 42 goats, 28 domestic felines, 12 birds, three specimens of wildlife and 86 humans. A true multispecies integration party organized by the Secretary of Agriculture and the US Department of Agriculture, who surely take notes with morbid curiosity.
Closed borders and empty wallets: a recipe for disaster
The number of active cases has achieved an Olympic feat, going from 90 in June to 894 in December. An exponential growth that has had a logical consequence: the borders for exporting livestock have been closed since May 2025. The result, according to the Agricultural Market Consulting Group (GCMA), is a loss of 1.3 billion dollars. Because, of course, who would want to import cattle with parasitic gifts included?
The economic move is anthology. A head of cattle sells for 1,200 dollars in the international market, compared to 900 in the national market. A simple subtraction tells us that producers are losing 400 million dollars. Money that, evidently, is not needed at all in the health control of the country. Or yes?
Juan Carlos Anaya, director of the GCMA, has had the audacity to point out the obvious: the problem is aggravated by the lack of resources. He has even dared to “urge” the government to increase the budget for 2026. The idea, apparently crazy, is to reopen the US border. Anaya finished his intervention with a pearl: “It is not acceptable that the budget for Senasica be reduced…”. A statement as revolutionary as saying that water is wet.
And in case anyone thought that this was a localized problem, the 894 active outbreaks have their headquarters in Chiapas (5,047 cases), Oaxaca (1,618) and Veracruz (1,493). A triangle of misfortune that keeps the livestock sector on high alert and shows, if necessary, that urgent action in animal health is as necessary as a veterinarian in an infested herd.
So now you know: while a tiny worm feasts on the national economy, the budget allocation to combat it seems to have disappeared into a hole… borer? Share this gem of public administration on your social networks and explore more content about the surreal crises facing the agricultural sector.
