The facility will breed millions of sterile New World screwworm flies at Moore Air Base, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Wednesday.

The U.S. government on Wednesday released a five-prong policy initiative to stop the spread of New World screwworms in live cattle and other animal imports, including its plan to build an $8.5 million insect dispersal facility in Texas.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said her department plans to open what amounts to a fly factory by the end of the year. The facility will breed millions of sterile New World screwworm (NWS) flies at Moore Air Base, according to the initiative. The male flies will then be released into the wild to mate with females and prevent them from laying eggs in wounds that become flesh-eating larvae.

It would be only the second facility for breeding such flies in the Western Hemisphere, joining one in Panama that had largely kept the flies from migrating further north until last year.

  • Qwazpoi@lemmy.world
    20·
    4 days ago

    The one in Panama actually makes sense because it is near the rainforest and acting as a buffer against them. These facilities only work if they are near the flies, you can’t use sterilized flies unless there is a population of flies to use them on.

    When you put that together this almost looks like they are signaling plans to abandon support for the Panama facility and allow them to spread through all of South America up into Mexico.

    • 9blb@feddit.org
      2·
      3 days ago

      It’s already in Mexico. Im not an expert, but I’d assume it will have moved even further north by the time they get this factory up and running.

      The New World Screwworm has been making its way further north through the Americas, Texas officials said, and the fly’s appearance in southern Mexico has worried agriculture and cattle industry officials and veterinarians’ groups.

      They are also building one in southern Mexico, according to the article.

    • bbbbbbbbbbb@lemmy.world
      5·
      4 days ago

      Id be surprised if they abandon the Panama facility. Kurtzegat did a video about this very subject. Basically abandoning that facility will cause catastrophy all across the southern US continent and US itself.

      Which means its a viable target for Trump to destabilize

    • Ledericas@lemm.eeEnglish
      2·
      4 days ago

      its the same way with the mosquitos, if you dont continually suppress the mosquitoes they will rebound very quickly, might be harder with mosquitos because theres more than 1 species that can spread different disease. mosquitos also adapt very quickly.