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Incident Record

Africanized honey bee swarm detected and destroyed on cargo vessel in Gulfport

Agriculture specialists with U.S. Customs and Border Protection reportedly detected and destroyed a swarm of Africanized honey bees onboard a cargo vessel that arrived in Gulfport from Honduras in late April 2008.

Record ID: MS-HARR-2008-0425
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This record is part of a first-pass incident research dataset. Records, categories, and source notes may be updated as additional information is reviewed and verified.
Date 2008-04
Location Gulfport, MS, Harrison County, MS
State MS
Record Type Detection / Context / Advisory
Trigger / Activity Port / Cargo Interception
Severity Detection / Interception
Bee ID Status Reported Africanized
Aggression Classification Not an Attack / Context Record

Incident Summary

Agriculture specialists with U.S. Customs and Border Protection reportedly detected and destroyed a swarm of Africanized honey bees onboard a cargo vessel that arrived in Gulfport from Honduras in late April 2008.

Public-Safety Lesson

Ports and cargo traffic can introduce Africanized colonies even where a state does not have an established population.

Impact Flags

Human Fatality No
Human Hospitalized No
Animal Fatality No
Responder Involved No

Source Information

Source: FreightWaves / U.S. Customs and Border Protection report

Source Strength: B - Established News / Officials Quoted