The USDA says the New World Screwworm is a devastating pest.
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension says it is a parasitic fly native to the Western Hemisphere. When its larvae burrow into the flesh of a living animal, they cause serious, often deadly damage to the animal.
The pest can infest livestock, pets, wildlife, occasionally birds, and people in rare cases. The USDA says that it is not only a threat to the ranching community but it is a threat to U.S. food supply and our national security.
The pest was eradicated in the U.S. in the 1960s. Since then, it has occasionally reemerged and has resurfaced in Central America and Mexico.
Recently, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the largest initiative yet by the USDA plan to combat it, which includes a south Texas sterile fly facility that will cost $8.4 million.
Phillip Kaufman, entomologist at Texas A&M, told outlet KBTX the goal is to eradicate the pest.
"The Sterile Insect Technique is something we've used in entomology for decades. The principle behind it and why it works so well with the New World screw worm is that the female fly will only mate once in her life. If you can get her to mate with a sterilized male, then she won't lay any viable eggs, and therefore, she won't have any offspring,” Kaufman informed.
He explained that this is done is by raising hundreds of millions of these flies and dispersing them over the infestations in Texas.
He said the eggs won't hatch, and the population will collapses over time. He added that there are no environmental impacts.
"They're using the flies' biology against it. So, the male flies are very good at finding female flies, and we don't have to know exactly where those female flies are. The males will find them for us, and therefore, you're not having to spray pesticides across a wide area in an attempt to kill those flies," Kaufman concluded.
