The US Department of Agriculture announced a plan to open an $8.5 million facility in South Texas to combat the spread of the New World screwworm, a flesh-eating bug that is deadly to cattle.
The facility, expected to be completed by year’s end, will release sterile screwworms in Northern Mexico to prevent it from spreading near the US border. The screwworm, which eats its host from the inside out and is capable of killing a full-grown steer in just 10 days, has prompted the US to halt imports of cattle from Mexico, aggravating a domestic shortage that has sent prices of slaughter-weight livestock to a record this year.
The facility could boost domestic sterile fly production by as much as 300 million flies per week, adding to supplies from Panama and Mexico. Other steps to prevent the pest from spreading into the US includes increased monitoring efforts and stronger cooperation with Mexican authorities, the USDA said. Last month, the USDA announced a $21 million investment to renovate an existing sterile fly production facility in Metapa, Mexico.
The USDA’s plan to eradicate the parasite is a “positive step that, in several ways, will strengthen joint Mexico-US efforts,” Mexico agriculture minister Julio Berdegué said in an X post on Wednesday.
Copyright 2025 Bloomberg.
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