USDA begins hiring for new Texas fly-breeding facility to fight New World screwworm

EDINBURG, Texas - The U.S. Department of Agriculture is set to begin hiring for over 200 positions at a new fly-breeding facility being built near the Texas border to combat the spread of a flesh-eating parasite. 

What we know:

The New World Screwworm Sterile Fly Production Facility is slated to open mid-2027 at the Moore Air Base in Edinburg. 

According to the USDA, 228 people will be needed to staff the facility. The majority of jobs are skilled trades, craft, and laboring positions, as well as biological sciences and laboratory support positions. 

There are also a few job openings for administrative, technology and occupational safety and health positions. 

"This new facility will drastically boost the availability of sterile flies – our most successful offensive capability to drive these serious pests away from our border," said Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins. "The people filling these vital positions will serve at the front lines in our battle against this serious pest and help ensure that we again eradicate it from our country."

How the facility will be used to combat New World screwworm 

Dig deeper:

The new facility will be the first of its kind in the U.S., and once fully operational, is expected to produce 300 million sterile male New World screwworm flies per week. 

After the sterile male flies are born, they will be released into the wild to mate with females, preventing them from laying eggs that hatch into flesh-eating larvae. 

Female screwworm flies only mate once in their life cycle. Federal officials also noted that the sterile flies pose no risk to animals or people. 

The USDA said this sterile insect technique, coupled with surveillance, education and outreach, was successfully used to eradicate the New World screwworm from the country in 1966. 

The screwworm poses a threat primarily to livestock by laying eggs in animals' open wounds. The larvae will feed on animals' flesh, causing serious and sometimes deadly damage. 

Details on the current U.S. outbreak 

The backstory:

The current U.S. outbreak began in June after the parasite was detected in a calf in Zavala County. It has since been found in multiple counties across West and South Texas, and parts of Arizona and New Mexico. 

Texas has had at least 69 confirmed cases so far this year, with the latest detected on Nov. 9 in a sheep in Val Verde County. The parasite has also been found in other Texas livestock like cattle, as well as cats and dogs, and wildlife, according to the USDA. The two wildlife cases have both been elk. 

Federal officials started ramping up efforts to protect livestock from the parasite after it began rapidly spreading in Mexico earlier this year.  

The USDA currently funds two sterile fly production facilities outside the U.S. The one in Panama produces about 100 million sterile flies per week, and the second opened in Mexico in June, with production continuing to increase. 

The USDA said the opening of the Texas-based facility will "provide the speed, scale and domestic capability needed to rapidly counter any NWS (New World screwworm) threat." Construction is expected to be completed in April 2027. 

How to apply to work at the facility 

What you can do:

Those interested in applying to work at the Texas-based facility can view open positions and fill out applications online by clicking here. 

A hiring event is also being held from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 17–Nov. 19. at the Embassy Suites by Hilton McAllen Convention Center in McAllen. For more information about the event, click here. 

"We need skilled professionals dedicated to this mission on our front lines," said Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Dudley Hoskins. "This hiring event gives people who may never have considered working in government an opportunity to join a mission worthy of the challenging work."

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