United States Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has announced $100 million in funding for projects that enhance efforts to fight screwworm. New World screwworm fly (Cochliomyia hominivorax) larvae can kill livestock and wild mammals by chewing deep into their flesh. While once eradicated from the United States all the way down to Panama due to an innovative sterilization strategy, monitoring and management efforts in Latin America have fallen off in recent years, leading to the fly pushing northward once more. In response to the increasing threat of the flies crossing the U.S. border with Mexico, the U.S. department of the Interior has begun a “Grand Challenge,” where the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will offer up to $100 million to projects that boost the production of sterile screwworm fly production, boost readiness and response strategies and protect agriculture, animal health and trade. “This is a strategic investment in America’s farmers and ranchers and is an important action to ensure the safety and future success of our food supply, which is essential to our national security,” Rollins said in a press release. “We know we have tried-and-true tools and methods to defeat this pest, but we must constantly look for new and better methods and innovate our way to success.”
