USDA fast-tracks Texas screwworm facility by 7 months

A new Texas facility designed to produce hundreds of millions of sterile flies each week is now expected to open months ahead of schedule as federal officials work to contain the return of New World screwworm to the United States.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says its new domestic New World screwworm sterile fly production facility at Moore Air Base in Texas is expected to open in spring 2027 — about seven months earlier than previously planned.

The accelerated timeline comes as livestock producers and animal-health officials confront a parasite that the United States spent decades eliminating, only to see it move north again through Central America and Mexico and eventually reach Texas.

According to the USDA’s New World Screwworm Rapid Response X account, the Texas facility is expected to produce 100 million sterile flies per week by the end of 2027. Production capacity is slated to increase to as many as 300 million flies per week by late 2028.

LIVE from Moore Air Base:
@SecRollins is touring construction of USDA’s new domestic NWS sterile fly production facility.

The facility will:

Open in spring 2027 (7 months early!)
Produce 100 million sterile flies per week by the end of 2027
Reach up to… pic.twitter.com/BkrU6DZ1Wx

— New World Screwworm Rapid Response (@Screwworm_RR) August 10, 2026

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins toured construction of the facility this week. The added domestic capacity could become a critical component of efforts to stop the parasite’s northward movement.

Why sterile flies matter

New World screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax, is unlike many other flies associated with wounds. Its larvae feed on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals.

Female flies lay eggs in wounds or other vulnerable tissue. After the eggs hatch, larvae burrow into living flesh, potentially causing severe wounds that can worsen rapidly without treatment. Livestock, wildlife, pets, and people can all be affected.

The sterile insect technique helped eradicate New World screwworm from the United States and eventually much of Central America.

The approach exploits an important part of the fly’s biology: Female New World screwworm flies typically mate only once. Large numbers of male flies are sterilized and released into affected areas. When wild females mate with sterile males, their eggs do not hatch, gradually suppressing the population.

But the strategy requires an enormous and continuous supply of insects.

A production facility in Panama currently produces about 100 million sterile flies per week, according to Reuters. Experts have estimated that roughly 500 million sterile flies per week could be necessary to push the parasite south toward the Darién Gap between Panama and Colombia, where a biological barrier historically helped prevent the pest’s northward spread.

The Texas facility would dramatically expand that capacity while giving the United States a domestic source of sterile insects.

Screwworm’s return puts livestock industry on alert

The urgency surrounding the facility follows the return of New World screwworm to the United States after roughly three decades without endemic cases.

The first U.S. infestation associated with the current outbreak was detected in Texas in June. Since then, USDA has reported dozens of animal cases in the state.

The potential economic consequences are significant. An unchecked outbreak could cause major losses through livestock deaths, treatment expenses, surveillance and eradication costs, movement restrictions, and trade disruptions. Reuters reported that the pest could threaten as much as $1 billion in losses to the Texas livestock industry.

The situation is part of a much larger resurgence that began farther south.

After decades of eradication efforts, Mexico declared New World screwworm eradicated in 2003, followed by Panama in 2006. A biological barrier was maintained near the Darién Gap to keep the parasite from advancing north from areas of South America where it remained endemic.

That barrier was breached in 2022, however, and the parasite subsequently moved north. Mexico began reporting cases in animals in 2024.

By early August 2026, more than 36,000 animal cases had been reported in Mexico during the resurgence, with nearly 2,000 considered active, according to USDA figures.

Human cases expand

Although livestock are at the center of the agricultural response, the resurgence is also becoming a public-health concern.

Mexico has recorded more than 500 human cases of New World screwworm myiasis during 2025 and 2026, according to health surveillance data.

A recent study published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention journal Emerging Infectious Diseases examined more than 200 confirmed human cases reported between April 2025 and March 2026 and found the pace of infections increased substantially during that period.

Researchers identified six deaths among patients with confirmed infections. New World screwworm myiasis was directly listed as the cause in one death, while several of the other patients had serious underlying illnesses.

Most patients in the study had at least one underlying health condition, and infections were most commonly found in the legs and feet.

So far, no locally acquired human cases associated with the current resurgence have been reported in the United States, though travel-associated infections have previously been documented.

What livestock owners should watch for

For cattle producers, horse owners, veterinarians, and others working with animals, early detection is especially important.

New World screwworm infestations can begin in wounds that might otherwise appear routine, including cuts, bites, surgical sites, or injuries associated with livestock management. Infested wounds may grow larger rather than heal, and animals may show signs of discomfort or changes in behavior.

Because larvae feed on living tissue, an untreated infestation can progress quickly and become life-threatening. The resurgence has therefore put renewed emphasis on wound inspection, animal surveillance, prompt veterinary care, and reporting suspicious cases to animal-health authorities.

For the broader livestock sector, however, surveillance alone cannot eliminate the pest. Long-term suppression depends heavily on producing enough sterile flies to overwhelm reproducing wild populations.

That is what makes the USDA’s accelerated Texas facility particularly consequential. By the end of 2028, the plant could produce up to 300 million sterile flies every week — triple the current weekly output cited for the Panama facility.

»Related: Was screwworm eradicated from the U.S. in 1966? Likely answer is ‘no’

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