Metapa, Mexico - The US and Mexico opened a new facility to ramp up production of the sterile flies used to stop the spread of screwworm, a parasite which is threatening cattle populations in both countries.
The facility is expected to produce up to 100 million sterile flies per week once it's fully operational. They will then be sent to the US border region, and distributed by air across the worst-affected areas.
The New World screwworm is a type of parasitic blowfly whose larvae feed on living tissue, causing severe illness and death. Sterile insects have been used to control outbreaks in the past by disrupting reproduction.
In a statement, the Government of Mexico said that the facility is "key to protecting the livestock industry, public health, the environment, and the food sovereignty of both nations."
"The goal is to coordinate, monitor, and evaluate actions related to outreach, training, surveillance, control of livestock movement, and the production and release of sterile flies in free zones, eradication zones, and controlled zones."
US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said the facility's opening was a milestone and praised Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's work to get the outbreak under control quickly.
Ronald D. Johnson, the US' ambassador to Mexico, announced that the US will invest $83.8 million into the facility with one clear objective: "To eliminate this pest in order to protect livestock, trade, and food security."
In response to the screwworm outbreak, which began in northern Mexico, the US-Mexico border has remained closed to the transit of cattle for over a year.
Despite the severe crisis this has caused within the livestock industry, the US has also experienced a number of outbreaks.