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🕒 14 hrs ago

Texas Fly Factory Unleashes 400 Million Insects to Battle Flesh-Eating Maggots

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Image & Source: cnn

Screwworm fly factory Texas unleashes hundreds of millions of metallic blue insects by airplane to curb a flesh-eating maggot invasion threatening cattle and horses along the US-Mexico border. "How do sterile flies stop screwworms?" and "What animals are at risk?" top Google trends as ranchers watch with binoculars. Only one Panama facility breeds these blue-green exoskeleton heroes; a new Texas site plans to up the ante. “It’s a daily chore to provide those inspections to our livestock, just to make sure they’re not infested,” says rancher Stephen Diebel.

Building on the spectacle of fly-laden skies, US officials scramble to open a Texas-based fly production plant after 90,000 screwworm infestations since 2023. Searchers ask, "Do screwworms infect humans?" and "Why drop flies from planes?" as Central American countries witness airports of flesh-eating maggots. Picture livestock border inspections resembling low-budget sci-fi: cows in quarantine, humans counting sterile blue bugs instead of sheep. “After 12 to 24 hours, those eggs all hatch, and they immediately start burrowing,” warns Dr. Phillip Kaufman.

More than 90,000 screwworm infestations have been tallied since 2023—each beginning with a female fly laying up to 300 eggs on open wounds, launching a maggot invasion worthy of a midnight creature feature.

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