Current trends in screwworm XXXX in the Caribbean region.

@entity1 @entity1707 @entity235 @entity4409 @entity4057 @entity277 @entity291
In a random sample of animal producers and @entity4409 personnel, 33% of the respondents in Trinidad, 15% in Guyana, 11% in Suriname and 9% in Jamaica recalled at least one case of @entity1 @entity4057 due to Cochliomyia homivorax (Coquerel). During 1981, respondents in Surinam (88%), Jamaica (90%), Guyana (85%) and Trinidad and Tobago (82%) found at least one case of @entity4057 in their livestock, occurring mainly in @entity291 , @entity1707 and @entity235 . Feral animals, e.g. jaguars, were also found to be infested. The initial wounds were mainly the umbilicus of neonates, and arbitrary wounds, and vampire bites were also affected. Fifty-three to 78% of all respondents examined their livestock daily for wounds and @entity277 by the screwworm. Annual estimates of losses (in U.S. dollars) due to surveillance and medication ranged from  4.82 to  10.71 per animal. Nationally, these losses amount to  0.30 million (Surinam),  1.02 million (Trinidad and Tobago),  4.33 million (Guyana) and  6.78 million (Jamaica). Figures for other losses, arising from failure to thrive, reduction in milk production and hide injury due to screwworm activity were not available. Most producers found that the greatest screwworm @entity277 occurred in the wet season, and most described it as second in importance to Boophilus spp. ticks as a pest of livestock, but of greater significance than biting flies, such as tabanids and stable flies. Eradication of the screwworm from the islands of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago can be recommended, but in Surinam and Guyana eradication seems feasible only on the 100-km wide coastal strips where most @entity1 and livestock populations exist.
