Key facts
- A Texas facility to breed sterile flies to combat screwworm will open in spring 2027.
- The USDA announced the updated timeline via its New World Screwworm Rapid Response account on X.
- The first U.S. infestation of the parasitic fly in three decades was detected in Texas in June.
- The new plant aims to produce up to 300 million sterile flies per week by the end of 2028.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Monday that a facility in Texas, intended to breed sterile flies to combat the New World screwworm, is now slated to open in spring 2027. This represents an acceleration from the agency's previous projection of an end-of-2026 opening.
The parasitic screwworm fly, which poses a threat of up to $1 billion in losses to Texas's livestock industry, was detected in the state for the first time in three decades in June.
The primary method for controlling screwworm infestations involves dispersing sterile flies. Currently, these flies are primarily produced in Panama, where a plant generates 100 million flies weekly. The new Texas facility is expected to significantly boost production, adding another 100 million sterile flies per week by the end of 2027, with capacity potentially reaching 300 million per week by the end of 2028. Experts estimate that approximately 500 million sterile flies are required to effectively push the infestation southward towards the Darien Gap.