eradication

USDA’s Approach to NWS Eradication

The battle against the new world screwworm isn’t being fought with insecticides or fences. Instead, USDA is deploying an unusual weapon, millions of sterile flies. It sounds like science fiction, but it’s a proven strategy called the sterile insect technique or SIT. The idea is simple. Scientists raise screwworm flies in specialized facilities and expose them to gamma radiation, making …

American Farmland

Florida Cattle Enhancement Board Awarded Researcher Discusses New World Screwworm Overview

With the detection of New World Screwworm now in the United States, we sat down with Dr. Edwin Burgess, Assistant Professor of Veterinarian Entomology at the University of Florida, a Florida Cattle Enhancement Board awarded researcher, to learn more about the New World Screwworm. “So New World Screwworm is a fly. It is a shiny green fly, very closely related …