DNYUZ
  • Home
  • News
    • U.S.
    • World
    • Politics
    • Opinion
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Culture
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Television
    • Theater
    • Gaming
    • Sports
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Autos
    • Gear
    • Mobile
    • Startup
  • Lifestyle
    • Arts
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
No Result
View All Result
DNYUZ
No Result
View All Result
Home News

US government to build $8.5M fly breeding factory to mass produce millions of flesh-eating parasites — here’s why

June 19, 2025
in News
US government to build $8.5M fly breeding factory to mass produce millions of flesh-eating parasites — here’s why
494
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Fighting flies with flies.

The US government will be opening a fly factory in Texas to mass produce millions of infertile flies as part of a sterilization campaign aimed at eliminating a flesh-eating parasite with a penchant for beef.

The $8.5 million breeding facility, just 20 miles from the US-Mexico border, will focus on the New World screwworm flies wreaking havoc in Mexico after an outbreak last year, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Wednesday.

The factory will propagate millions of sterile male screwworm flies to be released into the wild. The male flies will seek out fertile females and help prevent them from laying eggs, which they frequently deposit in cows’ open wounds.

Screwworms on a surface.
The United States government will open a fly breeding facility in Texas. via REUTERS
Close-up of a fly larva.
Female New World screwworm flies lay eggs that often produce flesh-eating larvae. AP

When left to fester, flesh-eating larvae burst from the eggs and can decimate entire herds of cows.

While the flesh-eating parasites are treatable, they can spread to virtually any mammal, including household pets and, in some cases, humans.

The Texas facility will mark the second of its kind on the Western Hemisphere. Up until now, Panama held the sole factory that helped prevent the screwworm flies from migrating north until last year.

Two more fly breeding facilities are on the horizon, too.

Close-up of a fly with iridescent blue-green thorax and orange eyes.
Screwworm flies were first pushed out of the US in the 1960s. AP

The Department of Agriculture also plans to spend $21 million to convert a separate facility that breeds fruit flies near Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala into a screwworm fly factory that won’t be complete until the end of 2026.

The USDA added that it is considering constructing a companion breeding center near the Texas one that would produce up to 300 million flies a week.

The US tackled a prior screwworm fly issue during the 20th century through the same method and eventually eradicated the gnarly pests from the country in the 1960s.

Meeting of government officials and representatives.
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins is confident the US will “defeat NWS” again. X /@BeefUSA

Before that, screwworms were a persistent issue for cattle farmers in the Southeast.

“The United States has defeated [the New World screwworm] before, and we will do it again,” Rollins assured at a news conference Wednesday.

Mexican Agriculture Secretary Julio Berdegué celebrated the multi-nation collaboration in a post on X and called Rollins’ plan “a positive step in different aspects” that “will strengthen the joint Mexico-US work.”

Cattle being herded through a border crossing.
The flesh-eating parasites can spread to virtually any mammal, including humans. REUTERS

“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 wrote.

The USDA warned that the flies have been detected just 700 miles away from the US border. Some agriculture and cattle industry officials in the US worry that the swarms could be at the border by the end of the summer — right when calving season starts.

With Post wires

The post US government to build $8.5M fly breeding factory to mass produce millions of flesh-eating parasites — here’s why appeared first on New York Post.

Tags: department of agriculturefarmsfederal governmentinsectssterilizationTexas
Share198Tweet124Share
Georgia authorities identify suspect in CDC shooting as a 30-year-old man from suburban Atlanta
News

Georgia authorities identify suspect in CDC shooting as a 30-year-old man from suburban Atlanta

by KTLA
August 9, 2025

ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has identified the man who opened fire at the U.S. Centers for ...

Read more
News

Star snaps of the week: Kylie Jenner, Justin Bieber, Brooks Nader and more

August 9, 2025
News

Yankees Devin Williams Finally Breaks Silence On Brutal Struggles

August 9, 2025
News

Trump Administration Suffers Double Legal Blow Within Hours

August 9, 2025
Culture

Why the internet is still obsessed with Octavia E. Butler, decades after her death

August 9, 2025
Middle East: Arab nations decry Israel’s new Gaza City plan

Middle East: Arab nations decry Israel’s new Gaza City plan

August 9, 2025
Labubu craze could spell doom for the economy, expert warns

Labubu craze could spell doom for the economy, expert warns

August 9, 2025
Emilie Kiser’s Son Was in Pool for 7 Minutes Before He Was Found: Police

Emilie Kiser’s Son Was in Pool for 7 Minutes Before He Was Found: Police

August 9, 2025

Copyright © 2025.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • U.S.
    • World
    • Politics
    • Opinion
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Culture
    • Gaming
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Sports
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Autos
    • Gear
    • Mobile
    • Startup
  • Lifestyle
    • Arts
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel

Copyright © 2025.