Guatemalan agricultural authorities reported Tuesday that 72 percent of cattle infected by the sweeping worm has recovered.
In total, 13 of the 19 cases of sweeping worm detected in the departments (provinces) of Izabal and Petén, in the north of the country, are in full recovery without symptoms or presence of parasites, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA) reported in a statement.
According to the same source, the national alert adopted since 29 October due to the outbreak of this pest allowed the control of most cases, through veterinary care and the isolation in mobile pens of livestock entering from other countries such as Honduras.
Authorities detailed that four cases are kept active in the recovery phase and that so far only one calf died from the sweeping worm.
The sweeping worm is a disease caused by the larvae of the Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel), which deposits its eggs in any open wound of a hot-blooded animal, including people, hours after they have been deposited, the worms are born which feed on the living tissue.
Currently, there are about 700,000 head of cattle in Guatemala, according to official figures.
Guatemala has registered more than 2,000 farmers who export their cattle to countries such as the United States and Mexico. EFE
This article was translated after appearing in La Tribuna