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Time of India
14-07-2025
- Health
- Time of India
What Is the New World Screwworm Fly and why the US has issued a livestock ban at the Mexico border
The United States has taken emergency action to suspend livestock imports from northern Mexico after detecting the alarming spread of the New World Screwworm fly, a parasitic insect that poses a deadly threat to livestock health and the American cattle industry. This insect, which lays eggs in the open wounds of warm-blooded animals, has larvae that consume living flesh, unlike common fly maggots that feed on decaying matter. With a newly detected infestation found just 370 miles from the Texas border, US officials fear a repeat of the devastating outbreaks of the mid-20th century that cost farmers millions in livestock losses. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responding swiftly with containment strategies, including a revival of the sterile fly release program, new infrastructure, and tighter border controls. What is the New World Screwworm Fly The New World Screwworm is the larval stage of a metallic blue blow fly found in the Western Hemisphere. But unlike other blow flies, whose maggots feed on decaying organic matter, these parasitic maggots feed on living tissue. According to Dr. Phillip Kaufman, entomology professor at Texas A&M University, this distinction makes the New World Screwworm particularly dangerous to livestock health. The larvae aggressively burrow into the open wounds of warm-blooded animals, including cows, horses, wildlife, and occasionally humans. What makes the New World Screwworm Fly so dangerous The New World Screwworm fly (Cochliomyia hominivorax) is not your average parasite. Female flies lay eggs inside wounds of animals such as cattle, deer, and even humans. But unlike typical fly larvae, screwworm maggots feed on living tissue, burrowing deeper into the flesh and causing large, infected wounds. If left untreated, infested animals suffer from pain, severe tissue damage, and potentially death. The parasite spreads quickly and can cause outbreaks among herds, making it particularly dangerous for ranchers and livestock producers. Additionally, wild animals can act as hosts, allowing the parasite to spread undetected. USDA imposes emergency livestock ban to block Screwworm entry To prevent the pest from entering the US, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a temporary halt to livestock imports from northern Mexico, effective immediately. Rollins emphasized that the USDA's early monitoring systems allowed for "quick and decisive action" to be taken. The move aims to create a barrier that halts the parasite's advance into the US, particularly into Texas, a state with a large cattle population. Screwworm spread in the US in 1970s The screwworm was once widespread in the US, causing enormous damage until it was eradicated in the 1970s. The breakthrough came through the sterile insect technique, where millions of lab-bred, sterile male flies were released into the wild. When these males mated with wild females, no offspring were produced, reducing the population over time. This method worked so effectively that the parasite was completely eliminated from the US and pushed back to Panama, where it was contained for decades—until now. How sterile flies might help to stop the Screwworm outbreak The New World screwworm first emerged as a serious threat in the US in 1933, causing devastating losses to cattle producers, particularly in the Southeast, where damages reached between $50 to $100 million by the early 1960s. In response, the US government introduced the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) in the 1950s—a groundbreaking method that involved sterilizing male screwworm flies using radiation. According to USA Today reports, these sterile males were released in large numbers into the wild, where they mated with wild females, resulting in infertile eggs. Since female screwworm flies mate only once, this dramatically reduced the population. The technique was a major success, and by 1966, the screwworm was declared eradicated from the US, at a cost of $32 million—ultimately protecting an $80 billion cattle industry. However, with the parasite's resurgence in Mexico, the USDA has launched a renewed effort. On June 18, it announced an $8.5 million sterile fly dispersal facility in South Texas, set to begin operations by the end of the year. Additionally, the US is investing $21 million to upgrade a production facility in Metapa, Mexico, which will produce up to 100 million sterile flies weekly. The goal is to eventually release 400–500 million flies weekly to reestablish the screwworm barrier at the Panama-Colombia border. USDA's multi-million dollar action plan The US is not taking chances. The USDA announced an expanding containment infrastructure and increasing response capabilities. Key elements of the plan include: A new sterile fly breeding facility (or 'fly factory') to be built in southern Mexico by late 2025 A fly holding center in southern Texas to allow rapid deployment of sterile flies in case of an emergency Aerial release programs targeting outbreak zones using planes to distribute sterile flies across wide areas These measures are modeled on the successful campaigns of the past, and officials are optimistic they can contain the threat—if action is taken quickly enough. What happens if the Screwworm Fly crosses into the US If the parasite does breach the US border, the USDA is prepared to implement an emergency aerial release of millions of sterile flies. These would target potential breeding zones in southern Texas and other high-risk regions. Combined with aggressive surveillance and treatment protocols, this strategy is aimed at eradicating any early outbreaks before they escalate. Failure to act quickly could lead to livestock quarantines, meat shortages, and billions in economic losses making proactive containment the only viable option. New World Screwworm Fly: Related FAQs What is the New World Screwworm Fly? A parasitic insect that lays eggs in wounds; its larvae feed on the living tissue of animals. Why did the US halt livestock imports from northern Mexico? To prevent the screwworm fly from spreading into Texas and other parts of the US How does the sterile insect technique work? Sterile male flies are released to prevent successful reproduction and gradually eliminate the population. Is the infestation under control in Mexico? Mexican officials report a decline in infected animals but the parasite has spread closer to the US border. What is the USDA's long-term plan? It includes border monitoring, new fly production facilities, aerial fly releases, and emergency containment strategies. 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Indian Express
10-07-2025
- Health
- Indian Express
Why US plans to drop millions of flies from planes
It may sound bizarre, even like a horror movie — but US officials are preparing to fight a flesh-eating pest by releasing hundreds of millions of sterilised flies from aircraft. The target? The New World screwworm, a parasitic larva that has been spreading across Central America and recently reached southern Mexico, raising alarms in the US livestock industry. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now fast-tracking plans to build a new 'fly factory' near the Texas-Mexico border to breed sterilised male screwworm flies, CNN reported. The goal is to flood the environment with these males, which mate with wild females but produce no offspring. This is a biological tactic that once helped wipe out the pest from US soil decades ago. New World screwworms, the larval stage of Cochliomyia hominivorax, are not your average maggots. Unlike most blow flies that feed on decaying matter, this species eats the flesh of living warm-blooded animals. The parasite lays eggs in open wounds, and once hatched, the larvae burrow into the host's tissue with sharp mouth hooks. 'After mating, the female fly finds a living host, lands on its wound, and will lay up to 200 to 300 eggs,' said Dr. Phillip Kaufman, head of the entomology department at Texas A&M University. Though cattle are the most common victims, the parasite can also infect wildlife, pets, and, in rare cases, humans. If left untreated, infestations can kill animals within a week or two. Since early 2023, over 35,000 infestations have been reported across Central America, mostly in cows, as reported by CNN, citing data from the Panama–US Commission for the Eradication and Prevention of Screwworm (COPEG), and as reported by CNN. The approach to stopping the screwworm relies on mass sterilisation. In specialised facilities, screwworm pupae are exposed to high-energy gamma rays, rendering the emerging males sterile without harming their ability to mate. 'The females only mate once in their lifetime, which makes the technique highly effective,' Kaufman explained. Once released — typically from planes flying over rural areas — the sterile males compete with wild ones, reducing the number of fertile matings. Over time, the population collapses. Currently, only one facility exists for producing sterile screwworm flies — located in Panama. But with the outbreak advancing northward, US lawmakers and agricultural leaders say more production capacity is urgently needed. In response, the USDA has announced plans to open a new facility at Moore Air Base in Hidalgo County, Texas. The production facility, still pending final location and design, is estimated to cost up to $300 million. Additionally, $21 million has been allocated to revamp an older facility in Mexico by late 2025. While the screwworm is most active in warm months, ranchers are being advised to avoid branding or tagging animals during that time to reduce the risk of infestation. There are currently no vaccines or reliable repellents. (With inputs from CNN)
CNN
09-07-2025
- Science
- CNN
The US is opening a fly factory to breed and dump flies from the sky. Here's why.
Hundreds of millions of flies dropping from planes in the sky might sound like a horrible nightmare, but experts say such a swarm could be the livestock industry's best defense against a flesh-eating threat poised to invade the southwestern border of the United States. An outbreak of New World screwworms — the larval form of a type of fly that's known to nest in the wounds of warm-blooded animals and slowly eat them alive — has been spreading across Central America since early 2023, with infestations recorded in Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize and El Salvador. Most Central American countries hadn't seen an outbreak in 20 years. The fly reached southern Mexico in November, sparking concern among US agricultural industry officials and triggering the closure of several border-area cattle, horse and bison trading ports. It wouldn't be the first time the US has had to battle these invasive bugs. The nation mostly eradicated the New World screwworm populations in the 1960s and 1970s by breeding sterilized males of the species and dispersing them from planes to mate with wild, female flies. The strategy — essentially fighting flies with flies — slowly degraded the insects' populations by preventing them from laying more eggs. Now, as the insects continue to spread north officials are hoping the approach could work again. However, today only one facility in Panama breeds sterilized New World screwworms for dispersal, and hundreds of millions more sterile flies are needed to slow the outbreak, according to a June 17 letter from 80 US lawmakers. The next day, the US Department of Agriculture announced plans to open a 'fly factory' in a yet to be determined town near the Texas-Mexico border. But the process of defeating the screwworm may not be quick — or inexpensive. New World screwworms are the parasitic larva of a metallic blue blow fly species called Cochliomyia hominivorax. Unlike all other blow flies native to the Western Hemisphere, the New World screwworm feeds on the flesh of living animals, rather than dead ones, said Dr. Phillip Kaufman, a professor and head of the department of entomology at Texas A&M University. The flesh-eating maggots go for most warm-blooded animals, including horses and have also been known to infect domestic pets and even humans in rare cases, Kaufman said. 'After mating, the female fly finds a living host, lands on its wound, and will lay up to 200 to 300 eggs,' Kaufman explained. 'After 12 to 24 hours, those eggs all hatch, and they immediately start burrowing and feeding on the tissue of that animal, causing very, very large wounds to form.' After the larvae feed on the tissue with their sharp mouth hooks for several days, they drop from the animal and burrow into the ground to emerge later as fully grown adult flies, according to Thomas Lansford, the deputy executive director and assistant state veterinarian for the Texas Animal Health Commission. Since the outbreak began in 2023, there have been more than 35,000 New World screwworm infestations reported, according to statistics listed on the Panama–United States Commission for the Eradication and Prevention of Screwworm Infestation in Livestock (COPEG) website. Of those cases, cows make up about 83% of the effected animal species. Treatment for infested cattle often involves cleaning, antiseptic treatment and coverings for the wounds, Lansford said. If left untreated, the flies can kill an animal in a matter of one to two weeks and spread to others, posing a threat to the livelihood of ranchers. 'It's a daily chore to provide those inspections to our livestock, just to make sure they're not infested,' said Stephen Diebel, a rancher and the first vice president of the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. 'We know the incredible economic impact an infestation would cause.' There are no known vaccinations or effective repellant methods to prevent infestation, Diebel said. Instead, during warmer months, ranchers should avoid branding, tagging and other procedures that create potential entry points for the screwworms in livestock, he recommended. The tropical fly is less active in the winter. While regional cattle trading is thought to be a major way the fly populations travel, Diebel said infestations can also affect wildlife such as deer, birds and rodents, making surveillance of the parasite's spread even more challenging. Just like a caterpillar goes into a cocoon before becoming a butterfly, the New World screwworm becomes a black, pill-sized pupa before emerging as an adult fly, Kaufman explained. In a sterile fly production facility, the pupae are subjected to high-energy gamma rays that break down the DNA of the males, damaging their sex chromosomes, according to the USDA. The result: impotent adult flies that cause female mates to lay unfertilized eggs. The amount of radiation the male flies are exposed to does not pose a danger to animals or humans, according to the USDA. But since the female flies only mate one time in their short, 20-day lifespan, once populations are exposed to sterile males, the populations die out over the course of months or years, depending on the size of the outbreak. While it is unclear how dispersal would work in the US in the event of an outbreak, Kaufman said the adult flies are typically loaded into temperature-controlled containers and dropped from planes. However, there's no need to panic about the fly drops coming to a suburb near you, he said — they usually target sparsely populated rural areas, since the flies have no interest in urban environments. At the COPEG facility, about 100 million sterilized flies are produced and dispersed aerially in affected regions each week. Currently, the dispersal efforts have been focused in the southern regions of Mexico and throughout Central America, where cases of infestation have been reported, according to COPEG's website. The new US dispersal facility is expected to be located at the Moore Air Base in Hidalgo County, Texas, and to cost $8.5 million, per the release. The location and price tag of the production facility, or the 'fly factory' itself, has not been revealed, but lawmakers estimate it could cost around $300 million. In addition to the new sterile fly facilities, the USDA also announced $21 million plans to renovate an old fly factory in Mexico by late 2025. While the plans are expensive, it's a price worth paying to save the multibillion-dollar livestock industry, Diebel said. 'When you offset the $300 million to the $10 billion of economic impact these flies would have, it's an easy trade-off to understand,' Diebel said. 'Having (a domestic production facility) here is super important … to control the distribution of those sterile flies more efficiently.' Shortly after the June 18 announcement, the USDA shared plans to begin reopening livestock trading ports in Arizona, Texas and New Mexico that closed last year, citing 'good progress' in surveillance and sterile fly dispersal efforts throughout Mexico. COPEG did not immediately respond to request for comment on further details about the current progress of the US dispersal initiatives.
Newsweek
01-07-2025
- General
- Newsweek
US Reopens Mexico Cattle Import Sites After Screwworm Battle
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on Monday a phased reopening of livestock import sites along the Mexican border, beginning July 7 with Douglas, Arizona. Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins said the decision follows weeks of intensive collaboration with Mexican authorities to combat New World Screwworm (NWS), a devastating livestock parasite that prompted the closure of all southern border ports on May 11. Why It Matters The extended livestock port shutdown disrupted a critical trade relationship between the U.S. and Mexico, affecting ranchers and livestock operations on both sides of the border. NWS poses an existential threat to American agriculture—the parasitic fly lays eggs in open wounds of livestock, producing maggots that burrow into living flesh, causing severe injury and often death. The USDA successfully eradicated NWS from the United States in 1966, but its return would devastate the livestock industry and threaten food security. The economic stakes are substantial. A similar outbreak in Florida in 2016 required euthanizing 102 infected animals, demonstrating the pest's destructive potential even in contained situations. The current threat represents the parasite's northward march through Central America over two years, reaching Mexico in November 2024 and spreading to within 700 miles of the U.S. border. NWS has systematically moved through Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize and now Mexico, with cases detected in Oaxaca and Veracruz states. What To Know The reopenings span three months, with five ports gradually resuming operations. The other four are: Columbus, New Mexico, on July 14 Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on July 21 Del Rio, Texas, on August 18 Laredo, Texas, on September 15 Each reopening will be evaluated for adverse effects before proceeding to the next phase. The parasite's rapid spread through Mexico triggered the May suspension after the USDA's February attempt to resume imports with enhanced inspection protocols proved insufficient. The department's response included deploying sterile fly dispersal operations, releasing over 100 million sterile flies weekly to disrupt the pest's reproductive cycle. This sterile male technique, previously explained to Newsweek by Texas A&M Professor Phillip Kaufman, works because female screwworm flies mate only once—flooding areas with sterile males prevents successful reproduction. Five Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service teams conducted comprehensive on-site assessments in Mexico this month to evaluate containment efforts. Strict import protocols now govern the reopening. Only cattle and bison born and raised in Sonora or Chihuahua, or those treated according to specific NWS protocols, qualify for import initially. Texas ports won't reopen until Coahuila and Nuevo Leon adopt similar protocols. Equines from anywhere in Mexico can be imported but require a seven-day quarantine and compliance with equine NWS protocols. Mexico is renovating its sterile fruit fly facility in Metapa, expected to produce 60 million to 100 million sterile flies weekly by July 2026. This represents progress toward the long-term goal of producing 400 million to 500 million flies weekly to reestablish the NWS barrier at the Darién Gap. What People Are Saying Rollins, in a Monday statement: "At USDA we are focused on fighting the New World Screwworm's advancement in Mexico. These quick actions by the Trump Administration have improved the conditions to allow the phased reopening of select ports on the Southern Border to livestock trade. We are continuing our posture of increased vigilance and will not rest until we are sure this devastating pest will not harm American ranchers." Speaking previously to Newsweek, Kaufman, also head of the department of entomology at Texas A&M University, said: "To eliminate the fly, especially under a more widespread infestation, requires several complimentary approaches, including monitoring for infested wounds for larvae, using fly-specific traps, and the mass release of sterile males." He added: "The sterile male technique is crucial in this process as the female screwworm fly mates only once and by inundating the infested area with sterile males we in effect make the females lay eggs that do not hatch. As these wild females die out, the population drops, and the fly is ultimately eliminated. This takes time to accomplish but has been proven effective repeatedly." Cattle serve as the backdrop for a roundtable discussion on the New World Screwworm at the Texas A&M Beef Center in College Station, Texas, on April 29. Cattle serve as the backdrop for a roundtable discussion on the New World Screwworm at the Texas A&M Beef Center in College Station, Texas, on April 29. Meredith Seaver /College Station Eagle via AP What Happens Next The USDA will continuously monitor each port reopening for adverse effects before proceeding to the next phase. Officials reported no notable increase in NWS cases or northward movement over the past eight weeks, indicating progress in containment efforts. Additional improvements in Mexico's animal movement controls and surveillance efforts remain critical for remaining ports to reopen as scheduled.
