Mexico and the US will inaugurate a plant to combat the screwworm and reactivate livestock exports
For now, as a preventive measure, the United States temporarily suspended imports of Mexican livestock
The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, announced that this Saturday a sterile fly production plant intended to combat the cattle screwworm will be inaugurated in Metapa de Domínguez, Chiapas, in the south of the country, a facility that represents one of the most important health cooperation projects between both countries in recent years.
The president reported that the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States, Brooke Rollins, will travel to Mexico to lead the inauguration of the biofactory, financed jointly by both governments, as part of the strategy to contain the plague that has affected the Mexican livestock sector since the end of 2024.
Sheinbaum highlighted that the project demonstrates that, despite the differences that exist in other areas of the bilateral relationship, both countries maintain close collaboration on agricultural health issues.
“This is proof of the great collaboration that exists,” said the president, who added that there is a permanent dialogue between both nations in agriculture, trade and security, always under the principle of respect for national sovereignty.
The new facility will have the capacity to produce up to 100 million sterile flies per week, an amount that will double the availability of insects used to combat screwworm and reinforce eradication campaigns in the south of the country.
The plant was built by converting an old facility dedicated to the production of Mediterranean flies and is part of a binational project with an approximate investment of $51 million, of which Mexico contributes around $30 million and the United States $21 million.
The strategy involves breeding millions of male screwworm flies and sterilizing them with radiation before releasing them into affected areas.
When mating with wild females, no offspring are produced, which gradually reduces the pest population until it is eradicated.
This technique, known as the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), was the same one that allowed the screwworm to be eliminated from Mexico and much of North America during the last century and continues to be considered by international organizations as the most effective and environmentally safe method to control the pest.