WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture, partnering with the U.S. Army, broke ground on a new state-of-the-art facility in Edinburg, Texas on April 17, 2026 to produce sterile New World screwworm flies to combat their larvae infestations that can devastate livestock. USDA Secretary Brooke L. Rollins and Dr. Jeff Waksman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy & Environment, attended the ceremony, which marks a critical step to safeguard the nation’s livestock and food supply.
The Secretary of War directed the Army to apply all available measures to accelerate the design and construction, demonstrating the project's national security significance. Teams are building the new domestic facility on an expedited schedule to prevent and control potential New World screwworm establishment in the U.S. Once operational, the facility's initial operational capability will produce 100 million sterile flies a week, and full operational capability will raise capacity to 300 million flies a week. The team will start construction now and aims to complete the project by November 2027, helping the nation defend against this agricultural threat.
The parasitic larvae of the New World screwworm fly, known as screwworms, can cause fatal infestations in warm-blooded animals. The sterile fly release technique is a proven, environmentally friendly pest control method. Pest managers have used it to eradicate screwworm from the United States and much of the Western Hemisphere. The program releases mass quantities of sterile male flies. Female screwworm flies only mate once, so when they mate with a sterile male, they mate with wild female flies. The females then lay unfertilized eggs, which collapses the wild population.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will support the USDA in the design and construction of the facility. While the USDA provides all funding and real estate for the project, the partnership leverages USACE's world-class engineering and construction management expertise.
"The Army is proud to partner with the USDA on this project of national importance," said Waksman, "This effort demonstrates the power of inter-agency cooperation to address urgent threats to our homeland. We are expediting all timelines to deliver on this national capability as part of our mission to protect the nation from these kinds of threats.”
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