Mexico halts US pork imports after virus antibodies detected in Iowa herd

MEXICO – Mexico has suspended pork imports from the United States after American authorities confirmed the presence of antibodies associated with the Aujeszky virus at a commercial swine operation in Iowa, prompting concerns over livestock health safeguards and possible pressure on pork supplies in the Mexican market.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the antibodies were identified on April 30 at a small breeding farm in Iowa, while investigators traced the infected boars to an outdoor production site in Texas where exposure to wild pigs is believed to have occurred.

APHIS stated that the case marks the first time since 2004 that antibodies linked to the disease have been identified within a commercial swine operation in the US after the country previously declared the disease eradicated.

As a result, Mexico’s National Service for Agro-Alimentary Public Health, Safety and Quality, known as SENASICA, suspended imports of US pork products, interrupting trade with the largest foreign destination for American pork exports.

Mexico sources more than 80% of its imported pork from the United States, while Canada and Brazil account for the remaining share entering the country.

Rising pork demand

Mexico has emerged as one of the world’s largest pork-consuming nations, after China and Japan, with industry representatives reporting that annual per-person pork consumption increased from 16 kilograms in 2020 to 21 kilograms in 2026.

Hermenegildo Santiesteban López, director of the Regional Livestock Union of Pork Producers of Sonora, said growing demand has been driven partly by the role pork plays in widely consumed dishes such as carnitas, which depend heavily on imported cuts and offal products.

USDA figures show that offal and similar pork products account for almost 30% of US pork exports to Mexico, while consumers have increasingly turned to pork as beef prices climbed between 30% and 35% during 2025.

Industry representatives in Mexico said the suspension may create room for local producers to increase output after years of competition from imported pork products sold at lower prices.

López said Mexican producers currently generate around 152,000 tonnes of pork annually, while imports from the US, Canada and Brazil total about 1.5 million tonnes, largely consisting of cuts such as shoulders and legs that attract lower demand in exporting countries.

Disease control measures

The Mexican Pork Producers Organisation, known as OPORMEX, backed SENASICA’s preventive measures and said Mexico has maintained its official status as free from Aujeszky’s disease since 2015 through surveillance programs, veterinary controls and biosecurity practices.

The organisation added that authorities have begun reviewing import requirements covering breeding pigs, semen, byproducts and waste materials that may pose sanitary risks to the domestic pork sector.

Aujeszky’s disease is caused by a type 1 herpesvirus that primarily infects pigs and can spread rapidly while remaining dormant in apparently healthy animals, with outbreaks capable of causing abortions, respiratory illness and high piglet mortality rates.

Sign up HERE to receive our email newsletters with the latest news and insights from Africa and around the world, and follow us on our WhatsApp channel for updates.