The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will shift its sterile fly dispersal area into Texas as New World screwworm (NWS) spread farther north in Mexico. Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration to prevent NWS spread into the state.
According to a press release, USDA will reallocate its sterile fly dispersal area, or polygon, approximately 50 miles into Texas, along the U.S. border with the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico.
“The northernmost active case of NWS in Mexico is still about 200 miles away from the border, but we’ve seen cases continue to spread in Tamaulipas and further south in Mexico, so we are proactively shifting our polygon as we make every effort to prevent NWS from reaching our border,” said Dudley Hoskins, Under Secretary of Marketing and Regulatory Programs for USDA.
The sterile insect technique, when paired with surveillance, movement restrictions, and education and outreach, is an effective tool for controlling and eradicating NWS. Female NWS flies only mate once in their lives, so if they mate with a sterile male, they lay unfertilized eggs that don’t hatch. Releasing sterile flies just outside of affected areas helps ensure flies traveling to new areas will only encounter sterile mates and will not be able to reproduce. In this instance, USDA will release sterile flies north of the current active NWS cases in Mexico in a proactive effort to create a sterile reproduction buffer zone if the fly moves north from Mexico.
Disaster declaration in Texas
On January 29, Abbott issued a statewide disaster declaration to better equip the Texas NWS Response Team to prevent the potential spread of the NWS fly into Texas and to better protect livestock and wildlife.
“Although the New World screwworm fly is not yet present in Texas or the U.S., its northward spread from Mexico toward the U.S. southern border poses a serious threat to Texas’ livestock industry and wildlife,” Abbott said. “State law authorizes me to act to prevent a threat of infestation that could cause severe damage to Texas property, and I will not wait for such harm to reach our livestock and wildlife. With this statewide disaster declaration, the Texas NWS Response Team can fully utilize all state government prevention and response resources to prevent the re-emergence of this destructive parasite. Texas is prepared to fully eradicate this pest if need be.”
The disaster declaration objectives include:
- Directing the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Animal Health Commission to establish a joint Texas NWS Response Team
- Partnering with the USDA to create a new $750 million Domestic Sterile NWS Production Facility in Edinburg, Texas
