The U.S. fought the flesh-eating screwworm for decades. Now it must begin again.

[milestogo]

4. Actually the US stopped investing in this in 2004 because it was eradicated all the way to Panama.

But you can't stop dealing with it.

Regardless of the answer, the U.S. is investing once again. The USDA is spending $750 million to build a facility that will produce about 300 million sterile screwworms each week in Texas, which is about three times the amount possible today and similar to what could be produced in the 1960s. But the facility won’t be operational until late 2027 at the earliest, and it will take longer to produce at full volume.

Until the facility is online, the risk of an outbreak will be high. A widespread screwworm outbreak could cost the Texas economy alone about $1.8 billion a year because of livestock deaths, veterinary services, treatments and extra labor, according to USDA estimates from 2024.

While the goal will be to push screwworm out of the U.S. and Central America, some researchers think it’s worth considering getting rid of the species altogether. A group of bioethicists, conservation biologists and scientists gathered in 2024 to discuss whether it would make sense to tweak the sterilization technique and use genetic modification to ensure lethal genes spread into the screwworm’s gene pool to doom the species. The group published its perspective in the journal Science last year.