US Announces $109 Million Plan to Combat Screwworm Spread from Mexico, Central America

The New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite that devastates livestock, is advancing northward from Central America toward the U.S. border, prompting urgent action by U.S. and Texas officials. The USDA is investing over $30 million to establish a new sterile fly dispersal center at Moore Air Base in Texas and renovate a production facility in Mexico to release millions of sterile male flies, a technique that helped eradicate the pest from the U.S. in the 1960s. Texas lawmakers and agriculture officials are also developing preventative measures including parasiticide-laced cattle feed and monitoring networks along the border. The screwworm has caused public health emergencies in Central America, with dozens of human cases reported and thousands of animals infected, raising concerns about its potential spread into North America. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins and agencies are coordinating emergency response plans and stockpiling medications in case the parasite breaches the border. This renewed biological containment effort aims to reestablish a barrier that has weakened as the screwworm has rapidly spread through Central America, now detected about 700 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.