Mexico, US launch plant producing flies to fight cattle parasite

MEXICO CITY, Mexico — Mexico and the United States on Saturday inaugurated a factory that will produce sterile flies meant to combat a livestock pest that can kill cattle.

The sterile insects are supposed to break the reproductive cycle of the so-called the New World screwworm (NWS) fly.

The $61-million factory was inaugurated by President Claudia Sheinbaum and US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

Both countries chipped in to build it in less than a year in the southern state of Chiapas.

The plant is designed to yield 10 million sterile flies per week once it is running at full capacity. A similar plant is operating in Panama.

Mexico detected its first case of the fly in 2024 in Chiapas.

The United States had eradicated the parasite in 1966 but Florida had an outbreak in 2016 that mainly hit deer.

The United States killed off the pest largely with this same technique of releasing millions of sterile flies to mate with wild females.

Early this month the US Agriculture Department said a case was detected in Texas.

Last summer the United States banned livestock trade with Mexico over reports that cattle there tested positive for the pest.

The flies lay their eggs in open wounds or mucous membranes of warm-blooded animals, where they hatch into larvae and feed on flesh.

Left untreated, the infestation can be deadly and the parasites can quickly spread.