[bastawhiz]

It's unsurprising to see the current administration blame the problem on the Biden administration. We don't know why screwworm made a resurgence. But scientists have suggested that supply chain disruptions in producing sterile flies during COVID are to blame.

[ericpp]

"The exact cause of this breach is unclear but is most likely due to multiple factors, including interruptions in sterile fly production due to the COVID-19 pandemic and illegal cattle imports, as well as the challenges involved in surveillance of the (Darien) gap’s difficult geography."

https://asm.org/articles/2025/september/new-word-screwworm-r...

There's currently only one plant in Panama running the sterile fly program, but both Mexico and the US are opening new plants to handle the issue.

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture is constructing a new $750 million facility nearby to breed sterile flies, though U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said it won’t be completed until late 2027. In the meantime, the agency is investing $21 million to transform a fruit fly breeding center in far southern Mexico into a screwworm fly production site, with operations set to begin this summer."

https://www.statesman.com/news/article/texas-possible-new-wo...

[jmclnx]

I also thought I read during Trump I, funding for this in southern Mexico was cut by the US.

[happymellon]

Didn't you read, it's Bidens open borders!

They should have checked every fly for their immigration status!

[eqvinox]

It's not impossible some government screwed up veterinary border checks at some point, but in all honesty unless someone finds direct proof I'm treating this as grade A bullsh*t.

(And if it got screwed up, I'd say it's much more likely to have been an accidental result of misguided austerity measures like DOGE.)

[pixelesque]

From other new source:

> The Department of Government Efficiency cut approximately 15,000 USDA jobs and terminated thousands of USAID programs, including a screwworm monitoring project.

[bastawhiz]

"why the hell are we paying to get rid of flies in Mexico? kill it!"