Mexico town protests sterile-fly plant over rotting meat smell

Key facts

• Residents compared the odor to rotting meat and spoiled food.
• The smell has reached schools and disrupted classes.
• The US Department of Agriculture invested $21 million in the $51 million facility.
• Mexico has recorded nearly 48,000 cases of screwworm in the current outbreak.
• The United States has recorded 53 cases.

Residents of Metapa de Dominguez, Mexico, protested on Thursday, demanding the closure of a sterile-fly plant due to an overpowering odor they described as resembling rotting meat. The smell, which has intensified and spread, has reportedly reached schools and disrupted classes. The facility, inaugurated on June 27 by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, is a joint effort to combat the New World screwworm parasite. The US Department of Agriculture invested $21 million in the $51 million plant, which aims to produce 100 million sterile flies weekly to suppress the pest population. The screwworm outbreak has led to a year-long ban on Mexican cattle imports by the United States, which has recorded 53 cases compared to Mexico's nearly 48,000.