50 years in the past, flesh-eating screwworms pushed scientists to mass produce flies

Fly manufacturing unit deliberate for Mexico — Science Information, June 2, 1973

A ‘fly manufacturing unit’ whose product resides flies — 300 million of them each week — is to be inbuilt southern Mexico to assist eradicate screwworms, a significant livestock pest.… They feed on dwelling host animals via open wounds or sores. The fly manufacturing unit will elevate hundreds of thousands of screwworm flies, sterilize them with radiation, and launch them from low-flying plane to mate with native flies, producing eggs that won’t hatch.

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Mexico and america joined forces to lastly purge North America of the screwworm scourge. The fly manufacturing unit opened in 1976 and legions of sterilized screwworm flies have been launched in each nations, together with alongside Mexico’s Isthmus of T­ehuantepec to impede northerly incursions. The eradication program was so profitable that it unfold to Panama.

By 2006, america, Mexico and Central America declared themselves rid of the pest. Although temporary outbreaks nonetheless happen, similar to in Florida in 2016, deploying sterile flies stays an efficient treatment. The tactic has impressed newer efforts to regulate mosquitoes and different dangerous pests (SN: 11/23/18, SN: 8/5/16).