US Deploys 8 Million Sterile Flies as Screwworm Cases Rise to 12
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 16
US Deploys 8 Million Sterile Flies as Screwworm Cases Rise to 12
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 16
Summary
The USDA has released 8 million sterile screwworm flies—4 million by ground and 4 million by air—to slow a livestock outbreak spreading in Texas and New Mexico.
Twelve animal cases have now been confirmed since the first infected calf was found in south Texas on June 3; 11 remain active, and the latest was a sheep in Sutton County on June 12.
The parasite’s larvae burrow into open wounds and feed on living tissue, infecting cattle, goats, sheep and one dog, prompting warnings of potential damage to Texas’s beef industry.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller urged a broader response using both sterile flies and the USDA’s adult-suppression bait system, saying delays give the pest more time to spread.
Pennsylvania has already imposed a precautionary quarantine on susceptible livestock from affected areas, even as the USDA says the outbreak does not threaten the U.S. food supply.