New World Screwworm in Latin America and Caribbean

Project: RLA5075

The present "Road Map for the New World Screwworm Suppression and Progressive Eradication in the American Continent", raises the possibility of continuing with the NWS eradication in a progressive manner to benefit the countries in the region where the disease is still endemic through a strategy based on the sterile insect technique developed by the USDA and successfully implemented in southern USA, Mexico and Central America through bi-national commissions to successfully eradicate NWS, and in this case also combined with a strategy used globally and regionally by FAO and the OIE with success in eliminating other diseases such as: Rinderpest, Classical Swine Fever, Food and Mouth Disease in several South American countries and currently the Peste Des Petits Ruminants.

Due to the transboundary nature of these diseases, the main consideration of this approach is to combat and eliminate diseases in their place of origin, to prevent them from spreading to other countries, or that countries free of certain in order to mitigate the risk of introductions, support its control or eradication in the place of origin and not within its own territory. Therefore, using this approach eradication can be progressively achieved in a succession of phases with countries benefiting from eliminating the disease as eradication efforts make territorial gains.

For more information on this topic, please consult All you need to know about the New World Screwworm (in Spanish).