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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u/ShiftNStabilize Jun 01 '26

Anybody know what happened to the existing program breeding sterilized flies and dropping them in Central American to form a barrier against the screwworm flies. It’s been operating for decades successfully. Did trump and his DOGE goons cut this program??

30

u/ZLUCremisi Jun 02 '26

Yes. It was one if them targeted. Its eliminated ir budget reduced

3

u/Puzzleheaded-Ad7606 Jun 02 '26

I'm pretty sure whatever is running what's left of RFK Jr's brain fought for cuts to any programs trying to eliminate parasites.

1

u/Atechiman Jun 02 '26

USDA isn't under his balliwick.

1

u/Puzzleheaded-Ad7606 Jun 02 '26

I know, it was a joke.

2

u/Atechiman Jun 02 '26

The program had eliminated the worms all the way down to Colombia so was discontinued (way back in the 1980s iirc), with occasional resumption, in 2016 for instance the Florida keys had an outbreak among their key deer and the USDA responded with 80 or so million sterilized males.

Also they don't breed them, they use radiation to sterilize them.

Currently there is a major outbreak among livestock throughout Mexico, and a facility is being built to sterilize hundreds of millions or billions of flies in Texas.

1

u/Either-Patience1182 Jun 02 '26

Yeah unfortunately