USDA Invests $8.5 Million in Fight Against New World Screwworm

The USDA is taking major steps to prevent the New World screwworm from entering the U.S. cattle herd. The agency plans to build a sterile fly production facility in South Texas with $8.5 million in funding. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins says this will strengthen efforts to detect and eliminate the pest. Senior Director of Government Affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Sigrid Johannes, emphasized the urgency, “It is an extremely expensive disease to eradicate once you have it.” The plan includes releasing sterile flies to reduce wild populations. Johannes explained, “The sterilized males, in theory, out-compete the males in the environment, and gradually the population goes down. The trick with that is you need an awful lot of flies.” Currently, sterile flies are produced in Panama, and Mexico is building a facility. The new Texas plant will bring production closer to home.