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Mexico Scales Screwworm Containment Drive With 574,000 Traps and a Nationwide Field Network

Officials say the goal is to break the fly’s breeding cycle to shield livestock.

Overview

  • The social program Sembrando Vida anchors the response by mobilizing more than 422,000 growers alongside 4,332 field technicians and 166 ranchers’ associations under a unified national plan.
  • Authorities report more than 574,000 artisanal traps placed and 11.6 million flies captured, with over 2,000 animals inspected and 1,863 wounds treated in livestock and pets.
  • The operation uses a quadrant map to flag risk areas, set monitoring routes, and place traps where the pest is most likely to reproduce.
  • A team of 24 researchers from 13 institutions is developing tools across five tracks that include surveillance, monitoring and attraction, biological and chemical control, biotechnology, and genomic studies.
  • Outreach now extends into Indigenous languages through radio and local materials, turning rural communities into a first line of detection and care while protecting herds, incomes, and food production.