The United States is preparing to carry out a bold and surprising plan to fight a deadly threat — flesh-eating maggots.
Flesh-Eating Maggots Threaten Livestock and Wildlife
These maggots are the larvae of a dangerous insect known as the New World Screwworm fly. When the eggs hatch, the baby maggots burrow into the skin of animals and eat their flesh. This causes serious pain and infection. In some cases, it can even lead to death.
This deadly insect mainly targets warm-blooded animals like cows, deer, and pets. But in rare cases, it can also affect humans. Although the screwworm was completely wiped out from the United States in 1966, it is now making a slow comeback. The biggest concern is that it is spreading in South America and could enter the US again through Mexico.
To stop this, the US government has come up with a very unusual but effective idea — releasing billions of flies into the environment. These aren’t just any flies. They are specially bred, sterilized male screwworm flies that cannot have babies. When these sterile males mate with female screwworms, no offspring are born. This helps reduce and eventually wipe out the harmful population.
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A $30 Million Operation to Release Sterile Flies
To make this plan work, the United States is spending nearly $30 million. This money will go toward building new fly breeding and distribution centers. One such center will be set up in Texas, and another factory will be built in Mexico. The goal is to breed billions of sterile male flies that can be released over areas where screwworms are found.
There is already a fly factory in Panama that produces about 117 million sterile flies every week. But experts believe that’s no longer enough. So, the US wants to boost production by opening more facilities to breed even more of these special flies.
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The process of sterilizing the flies is done using radiation. The flies are zapped with a low dose of radiation that makes them unable to reproduce. These sterilized male flies are slightly bigger than normal houseflies, but they don’t bite or hurt anyone. Their only job is to mate with wild female screwworms, which prevents the next generation of flesh-eating maggots from being born.
Once released into the air, these flies will begin to mix with the local screwworm population. Since they are sterile, they help break the cycle of reproduction. This method has worked before and is considered one of the best ways to control the spread of such harmful insects without using chemicals or pesticides.
Urgency Behind the US Action Against Screwworm Maggots
The screwworm problem is serious and growing. These maggots can enter any open wound on an animal and begin feeding on the live tissue. As the maggots grow, they cause deep wounds, extreme pain, and deadly infections. Farmers and wildlife officials are very concerned because the damage can affect entire herds of livestock, costing millions of dollars in losses.
This is why the United States is taking such urgent action. By flooding the affected areas with sterile male flies, the US hopes to stop the screwworm population from spreading any further. The Texas distribution center and the upcoming Mexican fly factory will both play key roles in expanding this effort.
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This technique is known as “biological control,” where one part of nature is used to control another. It doesn’t harm other animals or the environment, and it focuses only on the dangerous screwworm species.
Billions of flies may seem like a strange solution, but it’s one of the safest and smartest ways to fight a flesh-eating pest without adding chemicals to the environment. For now, the focus remains on preventing these maggots from reaching the US again and protecting animals from painful and deadly infections.