US plans to open fly factory in Texas to fight against flesh-eating parasite

The United States announced its plan to open a fly factory by the end of the year to breed millions of the insects in Texas as part of an effort to keep a flesh-eating parasite from infesting American cattle.

Sterile male New World screwworm flies bred at the $8.5 million facility would be released into the wild to mate with females and prevent them from laying eggs in wounds that become flesh-eating larva, said Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

New World screwworm flies increase agriculture and cattle industry concerns

The backstory:

Last month, the U.S. suspended imports of live cattle, horses, and bison from Mexico after flies appeared in southern Mexico late last year, concerning agriculture and cattle industry officials and veterinarians’ groups.

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According to the Associated Press, the U.S. bred and released sterile New World screwworm flies into the wild decades ago, but it was largely banished from the country in the 1960s. Previously, it had been an annual scourge for cattle ranchers and dairy farmers, particularly in the Southeast.

Cattle industry officials are concerned there could be huge economic losses if there are New World screwworm infestations. The larva can infest any mammal, such as pets and occasionally has been seen in humans, but there are treatments for the infestation.

What they're saying:

"The United States has defeated NWS before, and we will do it again," Rollins said. She held a news conference at Moore Air Base with Texas and cattle industry officials.

Mexican Agriculture Secretary Julio Berdegué said in a X post on Wednesday that Rollins’ plan "seems to us a positive step in different aspects, it will strengthen the joint Mexico-US work."

"We trust the enthusiasm for cooperation that Secretary Rollins mentioned, and based on objective results and the reports from the USDA mission visiting us this week, we will be able to restart exports of our cattle as soon as possible," he said.

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"The only way to protect the American cattle herd from the devastating threat of New World screwworm is by having a sufficient supply of sterile flies to push this pest away from our border," said Buck Wehrbein, a Nebraska cattle rancher and the president of the National Beef Cattlemen’s Association.

"We have a real concern about wildlife because of their ability to cross the border unchecked somewhat, whether it’s feral pigs, deer, wild cattle, whatever the case may be," Kansas Animal Health Commissioner Justin Smith said in a recent interview. "There’s an opportunity for them to be our exposure risk."

Control flies spread with Texas facility

What we know:

This new facility in Texas would be located at the Moore Air Base, less than 20 miles from the Mexico border. The United States Department of Agriculture said it would also consider building a companion fly-breeding center so up to 300 million flies could be produced a week.

Flies have been tracked as close as 700 miles from the U.S. border, according to the USDA. If the migration isn't checked, agriculture and cattle industry officials worry the flies could reach the border by the end of the summer, causing Mexico to step up efforts to control the fly's spread due to pressure from the U.S.

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Wehrbein said Moore Air Base had a fly-breeding facility in the 1960s that helped eradicate it in the U.S., the AP stated.

Texas officials said they are grateful that the U.S. is taking the screwworm threat serious and pleased with the plans for combating it, including the new facility in Texas.

The AP reports officials in other states are keeping an eye on the fly’s migration and believe having sterile male flies outnumber the non-sterile ones is crucial to controlling the migration.