During fall of last year, California issued a warning infestations of New World Screwworm (NWS) were possible due to the possibility of the pest infesting Mexico and migrating north. Fortunately, Texas isn’t wasting any time. Governor Greg Abbott has declared a statewide disaster to block an incursion of the parasite that experts say could devastate the state’s cattle population and push beef prices higher if it spreads there.

The technique is used to control NWS are sterile insects. Scientists raise huge numbers of male flies in the lab, sterilize them with ionizing radiation, and then release them into areas where the pest is present or could spread. Since female NWS flies only mate once, when they pair with these sterile males they produce eggs that never hatch, gradually reducing the wild population generation after generation until it collapses.

A new insect‑dispersal center has opened in Texas to respond to ward off a potential infestation.

The United States applied this method effectively in the 1970s during the most recent outbreak of the pest. Rollins points out that today we have even more advanced technology at our disposal for tackling it. While the New World screwworm can be a serious and aggressive threat, it now faces a powerful countermeasure—our own high‑tech Venus flytrap that exploits the insect’s mating behavior to halt its advance into the country.

With the USDA’s sterile‑fly program, vigilant state monitoring, and a suite of cutting‑edge technologies positioned near the border, this pest could be thwarted before it even reaches the Rio Grande. However, if their actions regarding increased wolf populations are any indication, environmentalists would undoubtedly cheer on the screw worm infestations since (in their twisted minds) it would be one other way to diminish the food supply in order to eventually kill people off.

PHOTO CREDIT: By The Mexican-American Commission for the Eradication of the Screwworm – The Mexican-American Commission for the Eradication of the Screwworm, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6996390