The U.S. and Mexican governments are making strides in combating the re-emergence of the New World Screwworm (NWS) with the launch of a sterile fly facility in Tampico, Mexico, last week, as the pest problem continues to pose a challenge to both countries’ animal protein sectors.
The facility in Tampico – a city in the southeastern part of the country – uses aerial operations to disperse 100 million sterile flies per week into Mexico, the USDA shared in a press release. Sterile flies are dispersed either through a ground release chamber or aerial dispersal, with the latter preferred due to the steady rate of dispersal, the agency explained.
Additionally, the USDA releases sterile flies at a facility in Panama, and Mexico plans to renovate a fruit fly facility in Metapa, which will be operational next summer.
NWS burrows into livestock to lay its larvae, which can be fatal to the animal. The pest re-emerged in Mexico in 2024, after the pest was eradicated in the country in the 1990s.
Mexico continues to report new NWS cases, but “the overwhelming majority of these remain in the far southern part of the country, with no significant northward expansion over the past several months,” the USDA stated.
“The opening of the Tampico sterile fly dispersal facility is another incredibly important tool in our arsenal to stop the spread of screwworm. The facility will ensure flexibility and responsiveness in northern Mexico, giving us a greater ability to drop sterile flies and continue to push the pest south,” said Brooke Rollins, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, shared in a press release.
A cross-country collaboration to boost food security
This facility opening comes shortly after Rollins led an agribusiness trade mission to Mexico, which included 41 businesses, 33 cooperators and ag advocacy groups, and six state departments of agriculture, the USDA shared in a separate press release.
The goal of the trade mission was to strengthen ties in the fight against the Screwworm and hold “Mexico accountable for its commitments to the 1944 Water Treaty,” the agency stated.
“The trading and diplomatic relationship between our two countries is of the utmost importance to President Trump and American farmers and ranchers. Whether it is securing the Southern Border from illegal migration, combating New World Screwworm, or expanding market access for American agricultural products, we are working every day to put American interests first,” Rollins said in a press release.
She added, “I thank President Claudia Sheinbaum for welcoming me to the Presidential Palace where we had a productive and positive conversation about how we will continue to work closely together to eradicate the NWS, which is negatively impacting both our economies, including conducting a comprehensive joint review of our NWS response and efforts to ensure enforcement of our joint responsibilities in the 1944 water treaty.”
