The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued an import alert Sept. 10 noting that, effective Sept. 15, 2020, APHIS's Veterinary Services (VS) will reclassify the bovine tuberculosis (TB) status of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. VS is reclassifying Tamaulipas, which borders Texas from Laredo, Texas, to the Gulf of Mexico, from modified accredited down to accreditation preparatory status.

According to APHIS's TB uniform methods and rules document, accreditation preparatory states or zones have a TB prevalence of less than 0.5% of the total number of cattle and bison herds in the state or zone, whereas modified accredited states or zones have a TB prevalence of less than 0.1%.

VS said all steers and spayed heifers imported for feeding purposes from Tamaulipas will require a valid TB whole-herd test of the herd of origin and an individual animal TB test conducted within 60 days of entry (the individual animal test requirement is waived for steers/spayed heifers presented for entry within 60 days of the most recent whole-herd test). Sexually intact cattle from accreditation preparatory zones must have a valid whole-herd test and two individual animal TB tests conducted at least 60 days apart, with the second occurring upon arrival to the U.S.-Mexico border inspection facility, VS said. If the whole-herd test is completed within 60 days of export, only one additional test will be required and conducted at the port of entry.

TB testing for all cattle exported from Tamaulipas to the U.S. — including whole-herd tests and applicable individual animal tests — must be completed by an official or committee veterinarian or by a secretaría de agricultura y desarrollo rural-approved veterinarian, the import alert said. The veterinarians must demonstrate acceptable caudal fold test response rates (as established by the secretaría de agricultura y desarrollo rural). Corresponding TB test charts must be part of the export documentation for Mexican cattle presented for entry into the U.S. The individual test for sexually intact cattle at the border must be conducted by an APHIS veterinarian, VS said.

This information will be summarized in the revised VS Bulletin titled "Bovine Tuberculosis Testing Requirements for Cattle Imported to the United States from Mexico" found on the USDA APHIS Live Animal Import website.