Overview
- Federal and state teams confirmed the first U.S. detections in early June and reported roughly 25 to 26 animal cases by late June, mostly in South Texas with one case in New Mexico.
- Authorities have imposed quarantines, treated infected animals, expanded surveillance and begun weekly releases of laboratory‑reared sterile flies to stop the pest from reproducing.
- Experts say eradication requires about 500 million sterile flies per week but current and near‑term capacity is far smaller, with the Edinburg facility planned to reach about 100 million per week and Mexico and Panama adding roughly 60–100 million and 100 million respectively.
- A group of House Democrats pressed USDA for staffing and resource details in a June 24 letter, and the department says it has assigned more full‑time staff and set aside $1.3 billion for the response.
- On June 29 Texas Biomedical Research Institute announced a partnership with Flyttr to develop next‑generation biological suppression tools, and federal officials note the screwworm was last eradicated from the U.S. in 1966 and that a larger outbreak could cost Texas producers up to $1.8 billion.