The first documented case of bovine spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in North America was found in Alberta, Canada, in 1993. The index case was a 6-year-old Salers cow that was imported from Great Britain in 1987.

Costa Rica is experiencing an outbreak of hog cholera in small backyard swine herds that started in November 1993; approximately 3,000 pigs have been destroyed. Previously, Costa Rica did not have this disease. In Mexico, the entire land border area with the United States is in either a hog cholera "free zone" or in a zone that is in the active eradication phase. Cuba reported 63 sep-arate outbreaks of hog cholera during the last year.

Because of the outbreak of screwworms in Mexico in 1992, the 6 year APHIS plan for a screwworm barrier in Panama will be delayed by about 18 months. The last reported case in Mexico occurred on June 17, 1993, and response activity to this outbreak ended in December 1993. Screwworms were detected on animals at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for the first time in December 1993.