Courtesy of USDA/APHIS
The ongoing effort to combat the new world screwworm was strengthened earlier this week with the announcement of additional funding to renovate a fruit fly facility in Mexico. The $21 Million investment in the facility in Metapa, Mexico, will produce an additional 60-100 million additional sterile New world screwworm flies weekly in an effort to push the current fly population further south in Mexico. The USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service also announced they would continue to hold technical calls and meetings on New World Screwworm with their counterparts in Mexico, working to increase surveillance efforts in Mexico, ensuring appropriate animal movement controls and addressing administrative and regulatory roadblocks which would impair an “effective response.” US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins provided details on the impact that this pest would have on US agriculture during a recent media availability. Secretary Rollins held a call early this week with her counterpart in Mexico to discuss this ongoing threat and USDA APHIS personnel met with the Mexican delegation in DC last week to discuss the efforts currently underway. APHIS personnel will have a technical team visiting Mexico in the coming weeks to assess the situation while current restrictions on live animal imports from Mexico, that were previously announced,  continue to remain in place and are being evaluated by USDA every 30 days.