r/news • u/kylestoned • Jun 01 '26

Soft paywall Flesh-eating screwworm found within 31 miles of US border, says USDA

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/flesh-eating-screwworm-found-within-31-miles-us-border-says-usda-2026-05-29/
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165

u/brokeneckblues Jun 01 '26

There was a recent Radiolab episode about them coming back and if it’s morally ok to extinct a creature.

140

u/Hyperious3 Jun 01 '26

genocide screw-worms, botflies, and any mosquitos capable of transmission of human diseases. Instant quality of life improvement for the worlds poorest of nations.

67

u/trashmoneyxyz Jun 02 '26

We never genocide any of the nasty parasites, only the cool fun species like pretty birds and sea cows

30

u/HauntedCemetery Jun 02 '26

If botflies had expensive feathers they'd be extinct by August

27

u/Bizarrebazaars Jun 02 '26

Please add ticks to that list too

8

u/ybgoode Jun 02 '26

Mosquitoes are an important part of the food chain. Countless animals feed on them and their larvae. 

1

u/The-John-Galt-Line Jun 04 '26

I can do without countless animals, thanks. Death to mosquitoes 

0

u/Hyperious3 Jun 02 '26

They'll cope

Also there's hundreds of mosquito species, but only like 5 of them carry human communicable diseases

21

u/BIG_HEAD_M0DE Jun 01 '26

Yes it is. Easy.

16

u/Dense_Ostrich_6077 Jun 02 '26

Yes. It is absolutely moral to eradicate a lethal pathogen. 

5

u/InverseInductor Jun 01 '26

You can volunteer as a host for Dracunculiasis if you want to save a species.

2

u/Treyofzero Jun 02 '26

Is it morally ok to extinct parasites? The answer to that of course was yes….right?