Latest news with #screwworm
Fox News
33 minutes 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.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Officials step up plans to combat flesh-eating screwworm
Texas officials are stepping up their plans to stop the spread of a flesh-eating parasite, [Reuters reports]( The parasite, known as the New World screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax), has triggered a public health emergency in Costa Rica, prompting experts to warn Canadian travellers to take precautions. State-side, Texas officials said Wednesday they are building a sterile fly dispersal facility. The Department of Agriculture also announced plans for a sterile fly production facility at Moore Air Base, which could take two to three years to construct. New World screwworm (NWS) was eradicated from the U.S. in 1966, but the current health emergencies in central America and Mexico have seen the parasite moving northward. On its website, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) says it has been partnering with other USDA agencies, including the U.S. Department of State, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and affected countries to combat the outbreak. "APHIS is investing $109.8 million to combat new NWS detections in Central America and Mexico to keep the pest from spreading into North America," the agency's website reads. "With this funding, APHIS aims to eradicate NWS in Central America and Mexico and re-establish the biological barrier." On Wednesday, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the USDA is also working with state animal health officials to draft an emergency response and stockpile medications in case NWS breaches the border, according to Reuters. In March, infectious disease specialist Dr. Issac Bogoch took to X to spread awareness and warn Canadians, especially those travelling to destinations like the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and Mexico. "The "barrier" preventing New world screwworm flies (Cochliomyia hominivorax) from spreading north of Panama has been breached," The Toronto-based doctor said on social media. "We recently cared for a patient who contracted this infestation on a trip to Costa Rica." Despite what its name suggests, the New World screwworm is not a worm at all—it is a species of parasitic fly. Female screwworm flies lay their eggs in open wounds, scrapes, or insect bites on people and animals. When the eggs hatch, the larvae burrow into the flesh, feeding on living tissue and potentially causing serious wounds, infections, and even death if left untreated. Infections occur primarily in livestock but people can and do get infected, including an 80-year-old Canadian male traveller who went to a Toronto hospital with an NWS infection (also called myiasis) after visiting Costa Rica. Speaking with CP24, Dr. Bogoch said NWS is a public health issue that can also impact food security. 'This infection can decimate wildlife and livestock,' he told the news outlet. NWS is commonly found in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and South American countries but (APHIS) says cases are spreading to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Mexico, beyond a biological border that had previously contained the spread. The agency says there has been an "explosion" in NWS detections in Panama. In 2023 cases went up from an average of 25 cases annually to more than 6,500 cases in one year. (APHIS/ APHIS and Panama co-managed the biological border that "successfully" contained the pest in South America for "decades," APHIS says on its website. The now-breached barrier resides in the eastern portion of Panama. The outbreak declarations in Costa Rica and Mexico have triggered emergency responses in the United States, Mexico, and Costa Rica, which first declared an NWS emergency in February. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you can become infected if: You travel to affected areas (like Costa Rica, Nicaragua, or Mexico); You have open cuts, sores, or scratches; You come into contact with livestock or wildlife carrying the parasite. Canadian travellers can protect themselves by: Covering any cuts or scratches with clean, dry bandages; Using insect repellent, especially on exposed skin; Wearing long sleeves and pants in rural areas or places with plants and trees; Avoiding close contact with stray animals or livestock; Consulting a travel health clinic and a medical professional before travelling. There are no vaccines or medications that prevent infection. If you suspect infection: Seek medical attention immediately. Do not attempt to remove larvae yourself. Treatment usually involves the extraction of the larvae and prescription antibiotics. The parasite typically needs warm conditions to survive and Canada's cooler climate acts as a natural barrier. This parasite is not currently found in Canada, but with travel-related cases increasing and the barrier that once stopped its spread now breached, Canadians heading south should be on alert. Always check travel health advisories and when in doubt, speak to a medical professional before travel. Header image: File photo of new age screwworm larvae (CDC].
The Independent
a day 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.'
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.'
The Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
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.'
