Overview

• USDA is releasing more than 100 million radiation-sterilized male screwworm flies weekly across southern Mexico and Texas to interrupt breeding cycles and suppress wild populations.
• The department maintains a suspension of live cattle, horse and bison imports at the U.S.–Mexico border through mid-September to curb the pest’s northward spread.
• A fly distribution center in southern Texas is slated to open by year-end and a dedicated breeding factory in southern Mexico by July 2026 to secure long-term sterile fly supplies.
• Nearly $30 million in federal investment will expand capacity from Panama’s current 117 million flies per week to an eventual combined output of 400 million weekly.
• The sterile insect technique exploits the one-time mating behavior of female screwworms, ensuring that matings with released sterile males yield unfertilized eggs and gradual population collapse.