International News: U.S. Department of Agriculture fast-tracks Texas Screwworm facility by 7 months

By Zoila Palma:  The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accelerating construction of a new facility in Texas designed to produce hundreds of millions of sterile flies each week as officials work to contain the return of New World screwworm to the United States.

The facility at Moore Air Base is now expected to open in spring 2027, about seven months earlier than previously planned, Yahoo reports.

According to the USDA, the facility is expected to produce about 100 million sterile flies per week by the end of 2027, with production capacity projected to increase to as many as 300 million flies weekly by late 2028.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins toured the construction site this week as livestock producers and animal-health officials confront the parasite’s renewed spread through Central America, Mexico and into the United States.

New World screwworm is a parasitic fly whose larvae feed on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, including livestock, wildlife, pets and humans. The sterile insect technique has previously helped eradicate the pest from the United States and much of Central America by releasing large numbers of sterilized male flies, which mate with wild females and prevent their eggs from hatching.

The renewed outbreak has raised significant concerns for the U.S. livestock industry.

The first U.S. infestation linked to the current resurgence was detected in Texas in June, with USDA reporting dozens of animal cases in the state.

The Texas facility is expected to strengthen U.S. efforts to suppress the parasite by providing a major domestic supply of sterile flies.

A facility in Panama currently produces about 100 million sterile flies per week, while experts estimate that roughly 500 million weekly may be needed to push the parasite southward toward the Darién Gap.

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