The U.S. Will Drop Billions Of Flies From Airplanes Over Mexico And Texas

Why?

The U.S. government intends to release billions of sterile meat flies from airplanes over south Texas and Mexico. This is how the authorities are fighting the carnivorous larvae, a parasite that can destroy living animal tissue and pose a threat to the meat industry, writes The Guardian.

The meat fly in question is the New World meat fly, a tropical insect whose larvae can penetrate open wounds and mucous membranes of mammals, including humans. The pest had already been successfully eradicated in the United States from 1962 to 1975, when the country released more than 94 billion sterile flies. Now the danger has re-emerged: the pest has been spotted in southern Mexico.

To stop the spread, the U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to launch a new fly factory in Mexico by 2026 and open a distribution center in Texas. The insects are sterilized with radiation and then released into the wild. The females mate with sterile males and do not lay viable eggs - the population gradually disappears. This is considered a more environmentally friendly method than mass spraying of poisons.

"This is an exceptionally good technology ... an unparalleled achievement," said Edwin Burgess, an associate professor at the University of Florida who specializes in livestock parasites.

A peculiarity of the flies' biology helps the project: the female meat fly mates only once in a lifetime, so sterile males can significantly reduce fertility in the population.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture wants to increase production: from the current 117 million flies a week to at least 400 million. It plans to spend $29.5 million to retrofit the factories.

But the project comes with risks. In June, an airplane dropping flies near the Guatemalan border crashed, killing three people. In addition, it is important to prevent fertile individuals from escaping from factory farms.

The temporary closure of the U.S. border with Mexico to imports of cattle, horses and bison is also related to attempts to contain the spread of the pest. The border will not be fully open until mid-September.

You can support the website Charter97.org

MULTI-CURRENCY ACCOUNT FOR ASSISTANCE:

Bank's name: Bank Millennium S.A.
Address: ul. Stanislawa Zaryna, 2A, 02-593, Warszawa
IBAN: PL97116022020000000216711123
SWIFT: BIGBPLPW
Name of the account holder: Fundacja “KARTA ‘97”
Purpose/title of payment: Donation for statuary aims

You can contact us by the e-mail charter97@gmail.com