Overview
- The parasitic New World screwworm, first detected in the U.S. in early June, has produced roughly mid‑ to high‑20s confirmed animal cases concentrated in Texas with one New Mexico case now inactive.
- The USDA opened a sterile‑fly production site in Metapa, Mexico and is staging large ground and aerial releases, including a planned batch of about 180 million sterile flies to disrupt screwworm reproduction.
- Experts say roughly 500 million sterile flies per week would be needed to replicate past eradication success and current capacity from Panama, Mexico and existing sites falls well short of that target.
- Eighteen moderate House Democrats sent a June 24 letter demanding more transparency and staffing from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins while USDA says it has added staff and set aside $1.3 billion for the response.
- States and researchers are tightening defenses with travel and quarantine rules for pets and livestock, a $3.74 million USDA grant to the University of Arizona for faster PCR diagnostics, and a Texas Biomed–Flyttr partnership to develop next‑generation suppression tools.