Latest news with #cattle
Fox News
3 hours ago
- Health
- Fox News
US government to build $8.5M fly-breeding facility to combat cattle parasite threat
The U.S. government announced plans Wednesday to build an $8.5 million fly-breeding facility near the US-Mexico border as part of an initiative to prevent a flesh-eating parasite from infesting cattle. The planned site, slated to be located at Moore Air Base in Texas, will breed millions of sterile male New World screwworm flies. The males will then be released into the wild to mate with females, preventing them from laying eggs that turn into flesh-eating larvae, the Associated Press reported. A female New World screwworm fly lays eggs in the wound of an animal. The eggs then hatch into larvae, or maggots, that burrow into the flesh, causing potentially deadly damage, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Texas facility would be only the second of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, AP reported. Recent appearances of the fly in Mexico — as close as 700 miles from the Southern border — have raised concerns among officials. Last month, authorities responded by suspending cattle, horse and bison imports along the US-Mexico border, according to a news release from the USDA. Taking further measures, the USDA said it may also create a companion breeding center at the Texas location so that as many as 300 million flies could be produced each week. The executive department also plans to spend $21 million to convert a separate facility near Mexico's border with Guatemala into one for breeding for the fly. That site won't be ready until the end of 2026, according to AP. "The United States has defeated [New World screwworm] before, and we will do it again," U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a statement. "We do not take lightly the threat [New World screwworm] poses to our livestock industry, our economy and our food supply chain." The U.S. has previously bred and released New World screwworm flies into the wild, completely eradicating the insect from the country for decades. While there are treatments for infestations of the fly, officials worry about the economic impacts on farmers. Household pets and humans can also be infested by the larvae, AP reported. New World screwworm flies are endemic in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and some South American countries, according to the USDA. "We trust the enthusiasm for cooperation that Secretary Rollins mentioned, and based on objective results and the reports from the USDA mission visiting us this week, we will be able to restart exports of our cattle as soon as possible," Mexican Agriculture Secretary Julio Berdegué said in a post on X on Wednesday. The USDA did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
BreakingNews.ie
8 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Farmer pleads guilty to animal cruelty after cattle and sheep found housed with carcasses
A farmer has pleaded guilty to three charges of animal cruelty in relation to sheep and cattle under his care who were housed in sheds with multiple dead carcasses at a holding in west Wicklow two years ago. Michael Mooney (42), of Logstown, Valleymount, Co Wicklow, was charged with three counts of causing unnecessary suffering to farm animals on lands at Crossage, Dunlavin, Co Wicklow, on March 20th, 2023, contrary to Section 12 (1) (a) of the Animal Health and Welfare Act, 2013. Advertisement A sitting of Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court heard a flock of around 18 sheep including ewes and lambs were penned into a shed with no water and which contained the carcass of a ram. The animals were also showing signs of respiratory distress and sheep scab. A second charge related to cattle which were found in another shed with multiple carcasses in various stages of decomposition. The court heard the bodies of two animals were partially submerged in around one foot of slurry. A third charge related to cattle kept in a separate shed where multiple animal carcasses were also found. Although these cattle did have access to forage and water, the court heard that they were 'suffering and not thriving.' Judge Terence O'Sullivan remanded the accused on bail to a sitting of the same court in October when Mooney will be sentenced.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
America set to open Texas ‘fly factory' in bid to breed millions of insects
The US government is poised to open an unusual new facility in Texas by the end of the year: a "fly factory" designed to combat a flesh-eating parasite threatening American cattle. This $8.5 million operation, situated near the Mexican border, aims to prevent infestations of the New World screwworm, a notorious pest whose larvae feed on the flesh of warm-blooded animals. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced on Wednesday that the facility will breed millions of sterile male screwworm flies. These insects will be released into the wild, where they will mate with female screwworms. Crucially, these pairings will not produce viable offspring, thereby preventing the females from laying eggs in animal wounds that would otherwise hatch into destructive, flesh-eating larvae. The Texas plant marks only the second such facility in the Western Hemisphere, complementing an existing operation in Panama. For years, the Panama facility largely succeeded in preventing the screwworm's northward migration, but a breach last year underscored the urgent need for additional measures to safeguard US livestock. The fly's appearance in southern Mexico late last year has worried agriculture and cattle industry officials and veterinarians' groups, and the U.S. last month suspended imports of live cattle, horses and bison from Mexico. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also plans to spend $21 million to convert a facility for breeding fruit flies near Mexico's southernmost border with Guatemala into one for breeding sterile New World screwworm flies, but it won't be ready for 18 months. The U.S. bred and released sterile New World screwworm flies into the wild decades ago, and it was largely banished from the country in the 1960s. Previously, it had been an annual scourge for cattle ranchers and dairy farmers, particularly in the Southeast. 'The United States has defeated NWS before, and we will do it again," Rollins said. She held a news conference at Moore Air Base with Texas and cattle industry officials. Mexican Agriculture Secretary Julio Berdegué said in a post Wednesday on X that Rollins' plan 'seems to us a positive step in different aspects, it will strengthen the joint Mexico-US work.' 'We trust the enthusiasm for cooperation that Secretary Rollins mentioned, and based on objective results and the reports from the USDA mission visiting us this week, we will be able to restart exports of our cattle as soon as possible," he said. The new Texas facility would be built at Moore Air Base, less than 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the Mexico border, and the USDA said it would also consider building a companion fly-breeding center there so that up to 300 million flies could be produced a week. The Panama facility breeds about 100 million a week, and the one in Mexico could breed as many as 100 million as well. The USDA has said the flies have been detected as close as 700 miles (1,127 kilometers) from the U.S. border, and some U.S. agriculture and cattle industry officials have worried that if the migration isn't checked, the flies could reach the border by the end of summer. Pressure from the U.S. prompted Mexico to step up efforts to control the fly's spread. Buck Wehrbein, a Nebraska cattle rancher and the president of the National Beef Cattlemen's Association, said Moore Air Base had a fly-breeding facility in the 1960s that helped eradicate it in the U.S. While there are treatments for New World screwworm infestations, cattle industry officials still worry that farmers and ranchers could see huge economic losses. They, agriculture officials and scientists also said the larva can infest any mammal, including household pets, and it has occasionally been seen in humans. 'The only way to protect the American cattle herd from the devastating threat of New World screwworm is by having a sufficient supply of sterile flies to push this pest away from our border,' Wehrbein said. Texas officials said they are grateful that the U.S. is taking the screwworm threat serious and pleased with the plans for combating it, including the new facility in Texas. Officials in other states are watching the fly's migration as well and see having sterile male flies outnumber the non-sterile one is crucial to checking its migration. 'We have a real concern about wildlife because of their ability to cross the border unchecked somewhat, whether it's feral pigs, deer, wild cattle, whatever the case may be,' Kansas Animal Health Commissioner Justin Smith said in a recent interview. 'There's an opportunity for them to be our exposure risk.'
CBS News
2 days ago
- Health
- CBS News
U.S. plans to combat spread of "man-eater" screwworms with $8.5M facility of flies in Texas
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. An adult New World screwworm fly (left) and a New World screwworm larvae (right). Denise Bonilla/USDA Agricultural Research Service via AP "The United States has defeated NWS before, and we will do it again," Rollins said during a news conference at the South Texas air base with other state and cattle industry officials. Late last year, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department warned outdoor enthusiasts to watch out for animals that may be impacted by the dangerous "man-eater" parasites from flies that lay eggs in open wounds, nostrils, eyes and mouths. Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture suspended imports of live cattle, horses and bison from Mexico. 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. According to the USDA, the New World Screwworm "is a devastating pest." The scientific name for the parasite, Cochliomyia hominivorax, is roughly translated to "man-eater," according to the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. "When NWS fly larvae (maggots) burrow into the flesh of a living animal, they cause serious, often deadly damage to the animal," the USDA says. "NWS can infest livestock, pets, wildlife, occasionally birds and, in rare cases, people." The USDA also plans to spend $21 million to convert a facility for breeding fruit flies near Mexico's southernmost border with Guatemala into one for breeding sterile New World screwworm flies, but it won't be ready for 18 months. The U.S. bred and released sterile New World screwworm flies into the wild decades ago, and it was largely banished from the country in the 1960s. Previously, it had been an annual scourge for cattle ranchers and dairy farmers, particularly in the Southeast. Mexican Agriculture Secretary Julio Berdegué said Wednesday in a post on X that Rollins' plan "seems to us a positive step in different aspects, it will strengthen the joint Mexico-U.S. work." "We trust the enthusiasm for cooperation that Secretary Rollins mentioned, and based on objective results and the reports from the USDA mission visiting us this week, we will be able to restart exports of our cattle as soon as possible," he said. The new Texas facility would be built at Moore Air Base, less than 20 miles from the Mexico border, and the USDA said it would also consider building a companion fly-breeding center there so that up to 300 million flies could be produced a week. The Panama facility breeds about 100 million a week, and the one in Mexico could breed as many as 100 million, as well. The USDA has said the flies have been detected as close as 700 miles from the U.S. border, and some U.S. agriculture and cattle industry officials have worried that if the migration isn't checked, the flies could reach the border by the end of summer. Pressure from the U.S. prompted Mexico to step up efforts to control the fly's spread. Buck Wehrbein, a Nebraska cattle rancher and the president of the National Beef Cattlemen's Association, said Moore Air Base had a fly-breeding facility in the 1960s that helped eradicate it in the U.S. While there are treatments for New World screwworm infestations, cattle industry officials still worry that farmers and ranchers could see huge economic losses. They, agriculture officials and scientists also said the larvae can infest any mammal, including household pets, and it has occasionally been seen in humans. "The only way to protect the American cattle herd from the devastating threat of New World screwworm is by having a sufficient supply of sterile flies to push this pest away from our border," Wehrbein said. Texas officials said they are grateful the U.S. is taking the screwworm threat seriously and are pleased with the plans for combating it, including the new facility in Texas. Officials in other states are watching the fly's migration, as well, and see that having sterile male flies outnumber the non-sterile ones is crucial to checking its migration. "We have a real concern about wildlife because of their ability to cross the border unchecked somewhat, whether it's feral pigs, deer, wild cattle, whatever the case may be," Kansas Animal Health Commissioner Justin Smith said in a recent interview. "There's an opportunity for them to be our exposure risk."
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
The US plans to open a fly factory in Texas as part of its fight against a flesh-eating parasite
The U.S. government plans to open what amounts to a fly factory by the end of the year, announcing its intent Wednesday to breed millions of the insects in Texas near the border with Mexico as part of an effort to keep a flesh-eating parasite from infesting American cattle. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said sterile male New World screwworm flies bred at the $8.5 million facility would be released into the wild to mate with females and prevent them from laying the eggs in wounds that become flesh-eating larva. 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. The fly's appearance in southern Mexico late last year has worried agriculture and cattle industry officials and veterinarians' groups, and the U.S. last month suspended imports of live cattle, horses and bison from Mexico. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also plans to spend $21 million to convert a facility for breeding fruit flies near Mexico's southernmost border with Guatemala into one for breeding sterile New World screwworm flies, but it won't be ready for 18 months. The U.S. bred and released sterile New World screwworm flies into the wild decades ago, and it was largely banished from the country in the 1960s. Previously, it had been an annual scourge for cattle ranchers and dairy farmers, particularly in the Southeast. 'The United States has defeated NWS before, and we will do it again," Rollins said. She held a news conference at Moore Air Base with Texas and cattle industry officials. Mexican Agriculture Secretary Julio Berdegué said in a post Wednesday on X that Rollins' plan 'seems to us a positive step in different aspects, it will strengthen the joint Mexico-US work.' 'We trust the enthusiasm for cooperation that Secretary Rollins mentioned, and based on objective results and the reports from the USDA mission visiting us this week, we will be able to restart exports of our cattle as soon as possible," he said. The new Texas facility would be built at Moore Air Base, less than 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the Mexico border, and the USDA said it would also consider building a companion fly-breeding center there so that up to 300 million flies could be produced a week. The Panama facility breeds about 100 million a week, and the one in Mexico could breed as many as 100 million as well. The USDA has said the flies have been detected as close as 700 miles (1,127 kilometers) from the U.S. border, and some U.S. agriculture and cattle industry officials have worried that if the migration isn't checked, the flies could reach the border by the end of summer. Pressure from the U.S. prompted Mexico to step up efforts to control the fly's spread. Buck Wehrbein, a Nebraska cattle rancher and the president of the National Beef Cattlemen's Association, said Moore Air Base had a fly-breeding facility in the 1960s that helped eradicate it in the U.S. While there are treatments for New World screwworm infestations, cattle industry officials still worry that farmers and ranchers could see huge economic losses. They, agriculture officials and scientists also said the larva can infest any mammal, including household pets, and it has occasionally been seen in humans. 'The only way to protect the American cattle herd from the devastating threat of New World screwworm is by having a sufficient supply of sterile flies to push this pest away from our border,' Wehrbein said. Texas officials said they are grateful that the U.S. is taking the screwworm threat serious and pleased with the plans for combating it, including the new facility in Texas. Officials in other states are watching the fly's migration as well and see having sterile male flies outnumber the non-sterile one is crucial to checking its migration. 'We have a real concern about wildlife because of their ability to cross the border unchecked somewhat, whether it's feral pigs, deer, wild cattle, whatever the case may be,' Kansas Animal Health Commissioner Justin Smith said in a recent interview. 'There's an opportunity for them to be our exposure risk.'
