New U.S. Screwworm Defense Just Activated After Six Decades

The USDA confirmed New World screwworm in Texas cattle on June 3—the first U.S. detection since 1966 eradication. A sterile fly production facility opened at Moore Air Base in Edinburg four months earlier, positioning domestically produced sterile males to suppress wild populations through mating. Federal and state officials now execute containment protocols using infrastructure built explicitly for this scenario.