Agriculture and Homeland Security departments increase coordination to attack screwworm with drones, AI

    

The Department of Agriculture announced this week that
a facility in Texas to produce sterile flies will open seven
months ahead of schedule. (USDA Photo)

Increased efforts by the federal government against the threat of the New World screwworm (NWS), along with other animal health concerns, have resulted in a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The move was announced at an event this week in Texas.

In a subsequent news release, USDA touted several key elements of the agreement, including “Unified Threat Detection” with the use of “unmanned aircraft systems and artificial intelligence.” Other elements addressed information sharing, biosecurity, operational awareness and research and development. The release stated that local, state and tribal partners were involved in the development of the MOU.

Jon Adamy reports in Michigan Farm News that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins also announced on X that a “$750 million sterile fly production facility at Moore Air Base will open seven months early, in spring 2027.” The department says the facility initially “will produce 100 million sterile flies per week,” eventually increasing to 300 million.

The post on X also revealed Rollins’ review of technology supporting 200 DHS drones, over 1,000 drone flights to survey over 22,000 animals. It also noted over 26,000 trail camera observations and monitoring more than 8,000 NWS traps.

In its news release, USDA stated a continued effort between the departments to thwart cattle smuggling from Central America. It is estimated that 800,000 head are smuggled each year. The crime involves about $320 million in illicit trade and can “often bypass sanitary inspection and traceability systems, allowing potentially diseased or unmonitored animals to move undetected across borders.” This further hampers the effort to eradicate NWS, the release stated.   

New World screwworm detected roughly 70 miles from the Texas border as USDA efforts intensify

New World screwworm was found roughly 70 
miles from Laredo, Texas. (USDA photo)

 

The New World screwworm and its flesh-eating larvae have made their way through Mexico to hover fewer than 70 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. "The case was reported near Sabinas Hidalgo in Nuevo Leon," reports Joshua Baethge of Farm Progress. "That city is close to a major highway connecting Monterrey, Mexico’s second-largest metro area, and Laredo, Texas."

Screwworm larvae were discovered in "an 8-month-old cow that was moved to the area from southern Mexico, which has active NWS cases," Baethge writes. Concerned lawmakers and livestock owners would like Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to persuade the Mexican government to restrict cattle movement to contain the pest.

While NWS larvae will eat the flesh of any warm-blooded animal, female screwworm flies most often lay their eggs in the open wounds or scratches of sheep or cattle. The larvae are considered a threat to U.S. livestock and rancher economies as well as the U.S. food supply.

Rollins said "protecting the U.S. from New World screwworm is a 'national security priority," Baethge reports. Rollins added that "U.S. farmers and ranchers should know that the U.S. 'will not rely on Mexico' to defend the cattle industry, the food industry or 'our way of life.'"

State of Nuevo León within Mexico
(Wikipedia map)

The USDA and Mexican authorities have been working together to push the NWS away from both countries' livestock herds through sterile fly releases, animal surveillance and fly trapping and testing work. 

Since July, the USDA and Mexico "have been monitoring almost 8,000 traps across Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico," reports Jennifer Carrico of Progressive Farmer. "Currently, all the 13,000-plus screening samples have detected no NWS flies."

While the latest detection in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, appears to be limited to one cow, the USDA is still investigating. "Rollins said the U.S will be 'taking no chances,'" Baethge reports.