Overview
- Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced the plant in Metapa de Domínguez will be inaugurated this weekend with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson expected to attend.
- The project was financed with funds from both countries and is part of an APHIS–SENASICA action plan signed last year to scale sterile‑fly production.
- Mexican authorities say the facility can produce up to 100 million sterile flies per week to speed area‑wide suppression of the screwworm using the sterile insect technique.
- The sterile insect technique works by rearing and sterilizing male flies and releasing them so matings do not produce offspring, which gradually reduces pest numbers.
- U.S. import restrictions on Mexican cattle remain in place while the United States has reported screwworm detections in Texas and New Mexico and officials monitor whether releases lead to rapid suppression and trade normalization.