U.S. Officials Break Ground on Texas Facility to Combat New World Screwworm
U.S. officials have initiated construction of a sterile fly production facility in Texas to address the spread of New World Screwworm parasites from Mexico. The facility aims to produce up to 300 million sterile flies per week to protect livestock and public health. Operations are expected to begin in November 2027.
Substrate placeholder — needs reviewU.S. officials broke ground on a new facility at Moore Air Base in Edinburg, Texas, to produce sterile flies for combating New World Screwworm (NWS) parasites. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) stated in an April 17 announcement that the facility is designed to expand sterile fly production capacity.
Initial operations are scheduled to start in November 2027, with production reaching 100 million sterile flies per week. Construction will continue to increase capacity to 300 million sterile flies per week. NWS female flies lay eggs in wounds or orifices of warm-blooded animals, leading to larvae that feed on the host's flesh and can cause death if untreated.
A single female fly can lay up to 3,000 eggs in its lifetime.
cases have been reported in the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, less than 70 miles from the U.S. border. The USDA currently produces 100 million sterile flies per week at a facility in Panama and has invested $21 million in a Mexican facility set to become operational this summer.
Sterile male flies mate with females to produce unfertilized eggs, reducing the parasite population over time. As of April 2, the United States has restricted imports of live cattle, horses, and bison from Mexico due to NWS. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on April 14 that Panama and Costa Rica identified an NWS outbreak in 2023, with subsequent cases in Central America and Mexico totaling nearly 168,000 in animals and more than 1,700 in humans.
One confirmed human case involved a person returning from El Salvador to the United States.
