U.S. will build sterile fly factory in Texas to stop screwworm from devastating livestock industry
The federal government is ramping up efforts in Texas to combat the spread of New World Screwworm, a pest that could devastate the cattle and wildlife industries in Texas and the nation.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a slew of new initiatives and investments to monitor and prevent the spread of screwworm, which is traveling north through Mexico and was detected about 370 miles south of the U.S./Mexico border in July.
Screwworms are parasitic flies that lay larvae in open wounds of live, warm-blooded animals, causing them serious harm and, potentially, death.
18 replies
It's wild how different this response is to the US' response to COVID and other infectious diseases in humans
Cattle are worth more...
Good thing we stopped doing it in Panama where the bottleneck could be kept at only a couple kilometers of land and for a fraction of the cost.Where did you get that idea? Even the article we are commenting on talks about the factory in Panama still operating.
Furthermore, it's quite reasonable for something that affects the southern US (screw worm infestation) to be handled in the southern US (sterile screw worm factory in Texas).
You're right, I was mislead by other information. My bad.
I'm hoping at some point we could get South America on board, massively increase funding, and eradicate screw worms as a species. The firewall in Panama is certainly the best point of attack short of that goal.
That would be great for society but in the meantime take advantage of geography. Holding the line in Panama is far cheaper than the much larger land area of the us, plus other countries also get the benefit.
I didn’t read far enough to see if Mexico especially joined in the battle but would certainly be ok with just the us. We save money at the cost of helping others?
Edit: dammit, affecting people? Let’s get this shit done
Ah yes, the “efficiency” cuts of doge. The money to fix this should come out of Musk’s accounts.
Exactly, it was a massive loss of profit for the private sector
Kurzgesagt did a video on sterile screw worm factories recently. If you would like to know more, check his video out: How Nuclear Flies Protect You from Flesh-Eating Parasites
Why am I so surprised when I read about some part of the government still being functional?
Yeah that is going to go well..
Anyone ever heard about that Rabbit Proof Fence those cats down under tried?
Breeding sterile screw worms has done wonders to combat the infestation in North America for decades. It also completely eliminated the infestation in Africa as well. It's a fucking amazing idea that works.
I wish they would ramp up the production for mosquitoes.
It's gone well for decades. I am unsure what caused this lapse but screw worms have been held back from North and central America since the fifties.
Which isn't saying people currently in charge can do as well.
https://boingboing.net/2025/05/15/flesh-eating-screwworms-march-north-as-doge-cuts-funding-on-everything-we-need-to-stop-them.html
But that doesn’t really claim it caused the lapse, just that we no longer have enough functioning government to organize a response
Beyond cuts to funding, an article a few months ago mentioned cattle smuggling into Mexico from further south bringing the larva with them.