US EditionUSDA Breaks Ground on $8.5 Million Texas Screwworm Fly Facility
- The U.S. government plans to breed and release billions of sterilized male screwworm flies over Mexico and southern Texas starting by July 2026.
- This effort responds to the threat of the flesh-eating New World screwworm fly, which can kill cattle in two weeks and recently caused the U.S. to close its southern border to livestock imports until mid-September.
- The USDA will open a new breeding factory in southern Mexico and a distribution center in southern Texas, investing over $29 million to scale production from Panama's current 117 million flies weekly to 400 million flies weekly.
- Edwin Burgess of the University of Florida called the sterile fly release "an exceptionally good technology," noting previous eradication of the pest in North America through the same method from 1962 to 1975 with over 94 billion flies bred.
- This approach aims to reduce the pest population by releasing sterilized males that mate ineffectively, a strategy viewed as more effective and environmentally sound than spraying pesticides, but experts warn the pest could still reemerge despite past successes.
75 Articles
75 Articles
Swarm and awe: US to use flies vs a pest
TOPEKA, Kansas — The US government is preparing to breed billions of flies and dump them out of airplanes over Mexico and southern Texas to fight a flesh-eating maggot. That sounds like the plot of a horror movie, but it is part of the government’s plans to protect the United States from a bug that […]...Keep on reading: Swarm and awe: US to use flies vs a pest
The U.S. government is preparing to raise billions of flies and free them from planes over Mexico and South Texas to fight a carnivorous worm. It looks like the plot of a horror movie, but it is part of the government’s plans to protect the U.S. from a larva that could devastate its meat industry, decimate wildlife, and even kill pets. This strange science has worked well in the past. “It’s an exceptionally good technology,” said Edwin Burgess, …
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