Nearly two dozen Democratic senators on Thursday urged the Agriculture Department to expand its war against the New World screwworm, warning that new tactics are needed after the parasitic fly recently crossed the U.S. border.
Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) led the group in asking Secretary Brooke Rollins to commit to a series of actions targeting the flesh-eating pest, which crossed the Texas border last week and threatens the multibillion-dollar livestock industry. There are now seven confirmed cases in the U.S., confined mostly to Texas, with one case in New Mexico.
“We are aware that the USDA has engaged in preliminary efforts to contain this outbreak, including enhanced surveillance, sterile fly releases, coordination with animal health officials in Texas and New Mexico, and the confirmation that the U.S. food supply remains safe,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter. “These actions are critical first steps, but the evolving situation demands additional actions to ensure that the United States is adequately responding to the significance of this threat.”
Among the senators’ requests are accelerating the production of sterile flies to target the screwworm’s impact, including surging research investments supporting innovation in screwworm eradication and possibly using authorities under the Defense Production Act. The group also called for an emergency meeting of relevant USDA officials, border-state commissioners of agriculture, and state veterinarians to coordinate against the insect.
Sterile flies are the primary technique used to eradicate the New World screwworm. The tactic works by releasing sterile flies into the wild to mate with female screwworms, preventing them from producing viable offspring. Because female NWS flies mate only once in their lifetimes, the technique has proved tremendously successful in past outbreaks, including in Texas decades ago.
The need to expand sterile fly production capacity has been top of mind for officials as the screwworm pushed north in recent years, moving up from South America, through Mexico, and finally across the Texas border last week.
The U.S. is currently primarily reliant on a single Panama-based production facility that churns out 100 million flies weekly, far short of the 500 million figure authorities are eyeing. USDA is looking to compensate by building the first domestic sterile fly facility at Moore Air Base in South Texas, though the location is not set to come online until May 2027 at the earliest.
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USDA has sent millions to build out sterile fly production at another fruit fly facility in Metapa, Mexico. Authorities hope that the location will be online by August and will be able to produce 100 million flies weekly by the year’s end.
The latest letter to Rollins was signed onto by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Alex Padilla (D-CA), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Tina Smith (D-MN), Ed Markey (D-MA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mark Warner (D-VA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Dick Durbin (D-IL).