Every spring, as sure as the seasons, and for generations unknown, screwworms began their annual march northward from their overwintering sanctuaries in Mexico and South Texas.
What makes this even more important and urgent is that screwworm infections are *extremely painful* for both humans and animals. A truly nasty bug, responsible for untold amounts of suffering.
Great read! What would the difficulties associated in completely eradicating screwworms from both continents? I assume it would be a massive operation, and perhaps there would be some issues involved in dropping screw worms in the amazon.
One of my earliest memories, a vivid one, is seeing a young cow with an active screwworm infestation in (not on) the top of its head. Very late 50s, I was 4 or so (71 now). This was at my grandparents, in North Central Texas, south of Fort Worth. It has stayed with me. Thanks for the article.
Disappointed to see that this rather critical part of the story is downplayed and given parenthetical treatment: (Some anti-screwworm efforts may have been hindered by DOGE, which cut APHIS staff, screwworm monitoring programs, and may have delayed funding for the Mexico facility, but it’s hard to be confident about this, and the administration has unsurprisingly rejected these claims.)
My sources tell me, that if you remove the political filters, these actions in 2025 were horribly timed and were done in the face of constant warnings from people "who knew better," aka scientists who study screwworms.
Great write-up. The description of the screwworm “factories” pumping out 400m+ insects a year is incredibly…Cool? Disturbing? Terrifying? I’m can’t find the right word for it.
Its worth noting that similar Sterile Insect Release programs have been used successfully for other insect species. For example, in Summetland British Columbia, they developed a SER program for Codling Moths. Research also started in the 1960s and it has proven very successful.
Excellent, thank you. That's disturbing that the cartels, in addition to their already noxious activities, may be at least partly responsible.
This was surprisingly riveting. Thanks Brian!
What makes this even more important and urgent is that screwworm infections are *extremely painful* for both humans and animals. A truly nasty bug, responsible for untold amounts of suffering.
Great read! What would the difficulties associated in completely eradicating screwworms from both continents? I assume it would be a massive operation, and perhaps there would be some issues involved in dropping screw worms in the amazon.
Great article Brian! Thank yoj.
Especially interesting considering cattle populations are sitting at a multi decade low.
One of my earliest memories, a vivid one, is seeing a young cow with an active screwworm infestation in (not on) the top of its head. Very late 50s, I was 4 or so (71 now). This was at my grandparents, in North Central Texas, south of Fort Worth. It has stayed with me. Thanks for the article.
Disappointed to see that this rather critical part of the story is downplayed and given parenthetical treatment: (Some anti-screwworm efforts may have been hindered by DOGE, which cut APHIS staff, screwworm monitoring programs, and may have delayed funding for the Mexico facility, but it’s hard to be confident about this, and the administration has unsurprisingly rejected these claims.)
My sources tell me, that if you remove the political filters, these actions in 2025 were horribly timed and were done in the face of constant warnings from people "who knew better," aka scientists who study screwworms.
Sorry, but this problem started before the second Trump term.
Of course it did. Which makes the gutting of US prevention efforts all the more idiotic.
Time to bring out the gene drives!
Great write-up. The description of the screwworm “factories” pumping out 400m+ insects a year is incredibly…Cool? Disturbing? Terrifying? I’m can’t find the right word for it.
Very interesting and timely.
wow... learned something new today.... thanks for putting this together
Fascinating article. The eradication program a true example of a 'public good'.
Great article. Thank you
Maybe Wolbachia can help. If you want to help South America, this would seem more promising at that scale.
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/b5b33560-0de1-40d5-8e49-ca183666e47b
Its worth noting that similar Sterile Insect Release programs have been used successfully for other insect species. For example, in Summetland British Columbia, they developed a SER program for Codling Moths. Research also started in the 1960s and it has proven very successful.