By Dr. Kenny Burdine
As I write this article for Cattle Market Notes Weekly on August 25th, the cattle market is absorbing a US case of New World Screwworm (NWS). It appears that a human case of NWS was confirmed earlier this month in Maryland and was the result of someone traveling to Central America. At this point, there has not been a confirmed animal case, but cattle markets have responded to the news. The CME© October live cattle futures contract ended the day down $0.90 per cwt from Friday. Fall CME© feeder cattle futures prices were down by less than $1.50 per cwt. Both tested lower levels earlier in the day but settled at much smaller decreases by the afternoon.
I think the main reason why the market response was limited is that there really isn’t a fundamental market implication of this announcement based on current information. Since this was a human case, and NWS has not yet been found in livestock, there is no expected supply impact. A demand response also seems unlikely, although both of those things could change if more is learned in the coming days. The announcement does serve as a clear reminder that NWS is a threat to the livestock sector and animal health officials will continue to monitor the herd and release sterile male flies in Mexico.