FILE PHOTO: Larvae of the screwworm fly, collected from infected cows, are observed at the COPEG sterile fly production plant, which fights the spread of the cattle screwworm, in Pacora, Panama, June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Enea Lebrun/File Photo

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexico's National Service of Agro-Alimentary Health, Safety, and Quality (Senasica) said on Thursday that a confirmed case of an animal infested with the New World screwworm parasite in Nuevo Leon state was possible thanks to protocols it established with the United States.

A fly-trapping system to detect screwworm flies in Mexico is checked every three or four days, Senasica told Reuters, a frequency determined with the animal health arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Senasica's comments came after criticism by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who said Mexico had not adequately enacted protocols to curb the spread of the parasite.

(Reporting by Cassandra Garrison, Editing by Natalia Siniawski)