More than 600 cows died in Tabasco due to bacteria in poultry litter.

Contaminated poultry litter killed hundreds of cows in Tabasco and left million-dollar losses

More than 600 cows died after consuming poultry litter contaminated with bacteria, a feed used by producers to reduce costs.

The tragedy occurred in Huimanguillo, affecting 40 producers from at least 15 rural communities.

Each cow can cost up to  40 thousand pesos, which represents economic losses exceeding  24 million pesos just in livestock.

Without counting the indirect consequences: drop in milk production, unemployment, and impacts on hundreds of families.

Fields turned into cemeteries: the animals died amid spasms and salivation

The cows showed symptoms such as excessive salivation, muscle spasms, and sudden weakness.

Some died within minutes, others  agonized for days before collapsing in the fields.

The producers were overwhelmed. Without resources to hire machinery, they left the carcasses piled up on the ranches, exposed to the sun, creating a health risk.

The antidotes, according to the ranchers themselves, didn't arrive in time or weren't available at the veterinary clinics in the region.

State negligence: the authorities found out late, acted worse

The governor of Tabasco, Javier May Rodríguez, appeared days later, asking the ranchers "to avoid the use of poultry litter."

Advice that came  when there were already more than half a thousand dead animals.

The Animal Health Directorate promised technical support, but those affected claim that there was no real assistance or concrete solutions.

The disaster could have been avoided with a basic regulation of the use of poultry litter, a cheap but dangerous byproduct if not properly treated.

Poultry litter: the time bomb the government allowed

Although the use of poultry litter is allowed as an alternative feed, there is no real sanitary control over its management. The State has ignored for years the risks of this widespread practice in rural areas. What seemed like an economic solution turned into a lethal threat.

Thousands of producers have used this poultry waste as a strategy to withstand the high cost of commercial feed. They didn't do it by choice, but out of necessity. In the absence of support, ranchers have had to improvise to avoid going bankrupt.

But improvisation without regulation has already taken its toll. More than 600 cows died in Huimanguillo, leaving dozens of families devastated and ranches completely lost. The losses go beyond the economic: they wiped out the livelihood of entire communities.

The government, as always, arrived late. The authorities neither prevented nor acted in time, and now they blame the producer. But the only ones responsible for this disaster are those who allowed poultry litter to circulate without rules.

Huimanguillo wasn't an accident, it was a direct consequence of state inaction. And although the victims aren't human, the blow to the countryside is brutal. The Mexican State continues to treat producers as if they were expendable.

While they boast speeches of support for agriculture, reality disproves them every day. The countryside remains alone, unprotected, and abandoned, surviving by sheer cunning, prayers, and resilience. Real support never arrives.