Angel Valdes | February 27, 2023
After the statement reporting the increase in cases of cattle affected by the Screwworm in the province of Darién, Lic. Enrique Samudio, Director of the Panama United States Commission for the Eradication of the Screwworm from Livestock (COPEG) said on Radio Panama that is working to help producers and carrying out surveillance tasks.
“We are making a great effort, we have three areas of work, first the field task, surveillance looking for possible cases and with a large health education component where the producer must check their animals, treat wounds, take samples and very importantly not moving animals with worms, another of the components is the release of a fly with a technique known as the sterile insect, in the plant in Pacora we imitate the life cycle of the insect in nature and we sterilize it, we release it over the areas where there are sources of infection and in prevention areas, but the most important component is the producers or owners of the animals since we cannot be on each farm or checking each animal and the producer must be aware of accidental injuries that the animal may have which can be a focus for the fly to lay its eggs”, detailed Samudio.
According to the statement, 749 cases had been reported in the province of Darién, which is unusual for this time of year, due to which epidemiological surveillance is maintained in Darién and Panama East.
It is expected that with surveillance and different strategies to combat these screwworm cases, an important change can be seen in the coming months.
