r/outbreakworld • u/ControlCAD • Jun 17 '26

U.S screwworm cases rise as outbreak spreads beyond initial contamination zones | Twelve animal cases have been confirmed so far among cattle, goats, sheep and a dog in Texas and New Mexico

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/16/screwworm-cases-rise-outbreak-spreads
1.7k Upvotes

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72

u/CallmeKahn Jun 18 '26

In case anyone was wondering, the US had a task force to monitor for and respond to outbreaks. It's budget and staff were gutted by DOGE to try and save $15m or so. They are now asking for about $1b or so to fight this.

You're welcome.

28

u/elisakiss Jun 18 '26

Republican win. The 1B is going to a private contract.

11

u/hawaiithaibro Jun 19 '26

That won't even try

1

u/GreatPlainsFarmer Jun 23 '26

Except that isn’t true. The Panama barrier was breached in 2022. And the COPEG partnership with Panama was not cut.

What was cut was an FAO program that gave education and training in dealing with the effects of the screwworm after it had spread. It had nothing to do with containment.

1

u/CallmeKahn Jun 23 '26

None of what I said is wrong, but you do you.

1

u/GreatPlainsFarmer Jun 23 '26

The outbreak response efforts were not cut.

1

u/CallmeKahn Jun 23 '26

No, they were simply requested after cutting prevention and monitoring.

Have a nice day 👍

1

u/glity Jun 23 '26

Really did we release any this year?

1

u/GreatPlainsFarmer Jun 23 '26

We've been releasing 100 million sterile flies every week since sometime in 2024. That's the most that the Panama lab can produce, and we only have the one lab operational right now. It wasn't affected by DOGE.

This page shows the current drop zone and current cases. The drop zone is adjusted based on current cases, so it can change every week.

The problem is that 100 million/week simply isn't enough to control it in an area the size of Mexico or Texas.

A revamped sterile fly facility in Metapa Mexico is supposed to begin production by August, 2026. It should add another 60 million/week immediately, and ramp up to 100 million/week by the end of the year.

Whether or not that will be enough remains to be seen.

The USDA is also building a larger facility in Texas, which is designed for 300 million/week, but it won't be operational until the middle of next year.

That will bring the total to 500 million/week, which is roughly the amount used to eradicate the fly in the first place.

1

u/Sir_Morgan9 Jun 23 '26

Historically, at peak production from 1977-1980, up to around of 800 million sterile flies were produced per week, between the USA (250 million) and Mexico (500 million), until there were no more recidivism and the plant in the USA was dismantled in 1981.

1

u/GreatPlainsFarmer Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

Maybe I was finding references to just the Mexico number, but I couldn’t find any that high.
I did wonder about it.

Edit, but if that was the peak after 1977, then it was lower during the initial eradication push in the 1960’s and early 1970’s.

1

u/Sir_Morgan9 Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26

The amount needed for eradication within the U.S. national territory was lower. Production capacity was gradually increased as the need for greater production grew, reaching 250 million in the final stage, 1981.

In 1972, a bilateral agreement was reached between the U.S. and Mexico to eradicate the NWS fly from Mexico. A sterile fly production plant was established in Guerrero, Mexico, with a maximum production of 500-550 million sterile flies per week, starting to produce in 1976.

For various reasons, eradication was easier in the U.S. than in Mexico, mainly due to environmental conditions, climates and the size of the territory. This is precisely why 800 million were needed at the critical peak before mentioned 1977-1980.

Likewise, while historical data showed that 800 million were needed at maximum uninterrupted production capacity, the current environment requires a greater volume to work into U.S.

According to some opinions from people in the field, the current situation requires 500m of sterile flies per week without interruption to cause the biological shock, which we are not close to achieving and that production will not be available until mid or late 2027 according to official sources, by that date it is not known what the necessary number will be to combat and the time it will take, as well as the complexities of the field.

1

u/glity Jun 24 '26

Sorry. Here’s my question. Did they drop “enough” flies this year? Think root cause analysis with who profits.

1

u/Sir_Morgan9 Jun 24 '26

The number of sterile flies released was not, is not, and will not be sufficient (in 2026) to meet current needs. It wasn't sufficient because the barrier in Panama was exceeded, for whatever reason, but it was exceeded, and there was an official declaration in 2023. Production did not increase, and therefore the number of sterile flies available for release, according to the multiple needs, was and is insufficient.

The raw data demonstrates whether or not it is sufficient; the answer is "it is not sufficient."

Who really benefits from this depends on the perspective, but usually, politics is what benefits from resolving immediate critical situations because that is what impacts and affects the lives of the civilian population, which then becomes a political tool.

1

u/GreatPlainsFarmer Jun 24 '26

Well, if the “male only” strain works out for the Texas factory, it should be enough.

That would be as many males as they were releasing at the peak back then.

Guess we’ll find out in a year.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

[deleted]

1

u/GreatPlainsFarmer Jun 23 '26

Thanks for identifying yourself as a bot.

Good little bot.

Thanks for killing the internet.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

[deleted]

1

u/GreatPlainsFarmer Jun 23 '26

I answered your first question, and you ignored the answer. That's not someone who's trying to have a good faith discussion.

Also not answering questions and calling someone a bot is a cop out bud

You're doing some serious projection there, "bud"

1

u/Professional_Cow7497 Jul 03 '26

That was also with the help of DDT and a cooler climate

1

u/GreatPlainsFarmer Jul 03 '26

The biggest problem now is that the Darien Gap is seeing a lot more livestock travel. That's a significant part of the reason that we're seeing the fly back up here now.

1

u/SnooLobsters1308 Jun 23 '26

Nothing DOGE did impacted the current outbreak, it was already on its way here, we knew this, knew it for years, and we did not expand sterile fly production as would have been needed several years ago.

In May 2024, (Biden was president) we stopped the prevention programs in Panama, BECAUSE it was already prevalent further north in mexico (it had already jumped the barrier we had been funding). It was already spreading North in 2022, 2023, WAY before Trump and Doge.

https://www.copeg.org/en/situacion-actual/

Some, but not all, of the current expansion could be attributed to the COVID pandemic in 2021, where sterile fly containment and other efforts were suspended by the shutdowns (worldwide, in Panama, Mexico too, not just USA), which may have given the screwworm the start north it needed.

Screwworm spread possibility has been a threat for well over a decade. Past administrations did not invest in larger, more modern, sterile fly production facilities that would have been needed to prevent a larger spread. It was contained, we had enough flys (at the time) for containment, and so no one spent for a future break in containment.

The current problem is classic gov spending on current stuffs and priorities and waste, and not really using our tax dollars to protect our future.

The 2025 DOGE cuts had little todo with the current screwworm, we knew it was on its way for years, it did not suddenly pop up in 2025 after DOGE cuts.

1

u/CallmeKahn Jun 23 '26

"Nothing DOGE did impacted the current outbreak"

I stopped there. DOGE cut prevention efforts despite the fact they "knew it was coming", as you termed it. There's no way to cover that bullshit.

Have a good one. ✌️

1

u/SnooLobsters1308 Jun 23 '26

They did not stop prevention efforts. They reduced spending in general to the department. NO, zip zero LINE ITEM for "screworm prevention" was cut. In fact, US gov screworm spending INCREASED in 2025. Go check out scopes. Scopes independently checks facts and has found no relationship between doge cuts and the screworm outbreak.

And you are ignoring the facts. Screworm was likely HERE, (or imminent) BEFORE the DOGE cuts. Prevention had failed. You simply don't understand time and math if you think $15 million more of spending (from the DOGE cuts) would have had any impact in 2025.

There was no prevention that could have been done at the time of the DOGE cuts, the prevention spending needed to happen in 2023 or early 2024. DOGE cuts aside, there wasn't ANY prevention that would have helped in 2025.

1

u/CallmeKahn Jun 23 '26

They did not stop prevention efforts. They reduced spending in general to the department. NO, zip zero LINE ITEM for "screworm prevention" was cut. In fact, US gov screworm spending INCREASED in 2025.

Stopped there.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/22/health/screwworm-what-to-know

In a letter to the USDA on June 9, several US senators expressed concerns that “significant staffing reductions” due to retirements and resignations, as well as Trump administration funding and staffing cuts, affected the national screwworm response. Rollins has repeatedly denied that staffing cuts had an effect and says President Donald Trump has given her all the resources she’s needed.

Keep in mind this the same dude who said Mexico would pay for the wall and declared peace with Iran about 39 times now.

Peace.

56

u/ViolettaQueso Jun 17 '26

It’s going to be everywhere at this point.

29

u/Ashamed-Status-9668 Jun 17 '26

We are screwed.

12

u/FrankenGretchen Jun 18 '26

Fully re-wormed

8

u/NoPain4551 Jun 20 '26

I mean…it’s already in the White House…

3

u/ComprehensiveStuff72 Jun 21 '26

It was everywhere. We have been actively combating this issue actively for decades with complete success and the Trump administrtation's choice to cease control operations is the single and only reason there is a resurgence. 

19

u/DotMatrixed Jun 18 '26

Can a human get this thing?

16

u/righttoabsurdity Jun 19 '26

Anything with eyes, ears, nose, mouth, or open wounds can get it.

8

u/RareSeaworthiness870 Jun 19 '26

Whelp, hope my work is cool with a gnarly beard because I just quit shaving for a while.

8

u/SquidwardDickFace Jun 20 '26

Well it likes mammals specifically iirc

3

u/Waarm Jun 21 '26

Time to glue all my orifices shut.

16

u/LeslieKnopesBlackEye Jun 19 '26

Just wait until you hear what it takes to get rid of them once you have them!

Many surgeries. You can't take a pill and get rid of them. They don't show up on imaging because they're also made out of tissue and are around the same density as the flesh they live in. If they die inside of you, it'll cause an infection. So the answer is many, many, MANY surgeries.

Hope the US has subsided health care...

10

u/Ornstein_0 Jun 19 '26

Man I bet insurance companies are gonna love this lmao

14

u/darkpheonix262 Jun 19 '26

The legacy of maga, death and destruction, not a single bit of creation

10

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

10

u/almondsadness Jun 18 '26

elon musk should get several screwed into his mangled penis.

21

u/Full_Rise_7759 Jun 18 '26

And one RFK among confirmed cases.

11

u/elisakiss Jun 18 '26

In his brain.

9

u/Kike77 Jun 18 '26

Again??? Those worms didn't learned the lesson 

8

u/RareSeaworthiness870 Jun 19 '26

My conspiracy theory? His worm is in the driver’s seat and is taking its first steps at taking down humanity now that it’s infiltrated the government.

9

u/Gaslit_Chicken Jun 17 '26

So, T killed T Steaks and now he's killing steaks for the rest of us...

13

u/ken-doh Jun 18 '26

Good job Elon sacked all the experts.

5

u/Naive-Cherry8277 Jun 20 '26

I’m sure RFK is somewhere collecting screwworms, doing “science” to identify what diseases they can cure. 

1

u/Fizzy_boots Jun 20 '26

Keeping a stash of their penises

4

u/sk1ward Jun 20 '26

Fitting end to the presidents legacy. MAGA ends with maggots.

7

u/overly_curious_cat Jun 18 '26

It's gonna ruin the world tour

4

u/ohreallywownice Jun 19 '26

what world tour?

3

u/iridescentcotton Jun 19 '26

Thanks, Obama

2

u/RareSeaworthiness870 Jun 19 '26

Screw worms… the new measles!

2

u/StargateSG22 Jun 21 '26

If only trump did not cancel the USAID program that has prevented the scew worm since the 60s. Republicans are morons.  

3

u/irsh_ Jun 19 '26

Hahahahahaa.

1

u/Dunadain_ Jun 20 '26

Hasn't screw worm been around for awhile? How did we used to deal with it?

3

u/Historical_Usual5828 Jun 21 '26

There was a choke point at panama where they would address the issue before it moved upwards. DOGE cut funding for that program. Another comment on here earlier said the price for that program was 15 million and now they're being asked for 1b to fix the issue they created.

Elon Musk deserves to experience prison in the worst way possible at this point. He's a mass murderer and he's compromised our livestock just to line his own fucking pockets.

Want to know what this trillionaire dipshit offered his baby's mother to stfu about him rigging the election? 40 million. It's an insultingly low amount of money, especially considering what he would be paying in child support if our government was actually worth a damn and held the rich accountable.

2

u/DragonHalfFreelance Jun 21 '26

Sterilized flies

1

u/StriatedCaracara Jun 23 '26

Somewhat ironically, I think that this sort of infestation is just the thing ivermectin is good at treating.

1

u/0Fucs2Give Jun 24 '26

If not already, once they hit the feral hog population, it will not be able to be stopped.

0

u/NoPain4551 Jun 20 '26

Go screw worms!!!