WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD NEWS) — Efforts to eradicate New World screwworm as expanded cases in Texas prompt a larger response from USDA and renewed coordination across the livestock industry.
American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Economist Bernt Nelson joined us on Thursday’s Market Day Report to provide insight into current eradication strategies and financial preparedness tools for producers.
In his interview with RFD News, Nelson explained that despite rising concern over detections, food safety is not at risk. He emphasized the strength of the U.S. inspection system and existing safeguards within the food supply chain.
He also pointed to the sterile insect technique as the primary tool used in eradication efforts, explaining that sterile male flies are released to suppress the population and move toward eliminating the pest.
“I think when we talk about what we need to combat this pest globally, the best weapon we have against this thing is the sterile insect technique,” Nelson told RFD News. “That’s where we use targeted release of sterile male flies to help suppress the population and push toward eradication. Right now, global production is limited.”
Nelson noted that global production is currently limited to a single facility in Panama, producing about 100 million sterile flies per week, with additional facilities under development in Mexico and Texas that could eventually increase capacity to roughly 500 million flies per week.
“When these facilities come up and running and are online, we would see sterile fly production around 500 million flies per week,” he continued. “The Mexican facility is not quite going yet. The anticipated production beginning is slated for sometime this summer. It is unknown when the Texas facility will be operational.”
Nelson said farmers and ranchers should focus on prevention and daily animal monitoring, stressing the importance of consistent observation of livestock and early detection of potential issues.
“Now, what farmers and ranchers can do as they navigate the arrival of the pest is focus on prevention and treatment,” he explained. “In severe cases, New World screwworm infestations can prove fatal to some animals, but treatment can result in a full recovery.”
He also highlighted the need for strong relationships with veterinarians to ensure rapid reporting and response if suspected cases arise.
“The most important thing that farmers and ranchers can do—and anyone with animals in their care, for that matter—is to put eyes on animals every day,” he said. “It’s also mission-critical to establish and continue a relationship with a veterinarian. That way, when we’re conducting these inspections, if we find a suspicious case or a wound that needs attention, it can be reported to that veterinarian immediately, and treatment protocols can be followed.”
Addressing financial risk, Nelson said producers currently lack direct support mechanisms tied to New World screwworm losses. He suggested that an indemnity-style program could help offset losses and encourage reporting, drawing on models used during previous animal disease outbreaks.
“Farmers and ranchers currently lack financial support that would offset losses should a detection of New World screwworm occur,” Nelson explained. “One potential solution is an indemnity-style program. Something like this could compensate farmers for losses that would occur from a reported case of New World screwworm. A similar approach was taken when we had an outbreak of avian influenza in dairy cattle back in 2024. What this did is the program helped reduce stigma surrounding reporting and enabled effective disease traceability and control.”
He noted that while such a program has not yet been defined, discussions are ongoing with USDA and producer groups to explore potential solutions that could support traceability.
“We don’t quite know yet what a program like this exactly looks like, but we’re working very closely with USDA and our farmer and rancher members to try and come up with a solution,” Nelson told RFD News.
Nelson emphasized that this type of solution could help reduce reporting hesitancy and treatment costs.
