Sterile screwworm fly facility in Edinburg to be completed sooner, USDA says
Related Story
Edinburg, TX (KRGV) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture says its nearly $800 million sterile screwworm fly production facility near Edinburg will be finished sooner than planned.
In an exclusive interview with Channel 5 News, the agency said the facility will produce up to 300 million sterile flies every week once it is complete.
Recent pictures from a week ago show construction progress at Moore Air Base. The U.S. Department of Agriculture posted them to its rapid response social media account.
“After some additional review and commitments on staffing and double shifts we are now going to target completion for construction of Moore Air Base in April 2027,” USDA Under Secretary Dudley Hoskins said.
Once construction is complete, the U.S. Department of Agriculture still has to build a colony of sterile flies. The agency expects to hit that goal by the end of 2027.
Since early this year, workers have dispersed sterile screwworm flies from Panama and southern Mexico over South Texas. The flies are used to combat the spread of the pest, which could hurt the cattle industry.
News
