USDA Expands Sterile Fly Production to Combat New World Screwworm Threat
The USDA is intensifying efforts to control the New World screwworm, a parasite that poses a significant threat to cattle and other warm-blooded animals in the U.S. The agency has reopened a sterile-fly production facility in Metapa, Mexico, and completed a dispersal facility at Moore Air Base. A new production facility is also under construction. These efforts aim to increase the production of sterile flies, which are released to mate with wild females, thereby reducing the screwworm population. The northward movement of the screwworm has raised concerns, prompting these renewed efforts. 
