Mexico scales sterile fly production to combat screwworm plague

Efforts to combat the screwworm plague in Mexico are focusing on both preventative livestock management and the scaling of sterile insect releases. In Sinaloa, specifically in Guasave, livestock associations are training producers to perform daily inspections of animals to identify and treat wounds immediately, as the fly requires open lesions to lay eggs.

In Veracruz, authorities are currently in a containment phase due to a limited supply of sterile flies. However, production capacity is expected to increase significantly. A plant in Chiapas is currently producing approximately 100 million sterile flies per week, supplemented by 100 million from Central America. The strategy aims to reach a capacity of over 500 million flies per week following the scheduled opening of a new laboratory in Texas next year, which will provide an additional 300 million weekly specimens.