Mexico hopes to eradicate screwworm with new sterile fly plant

By Daniel Becerril

METAPA, Mexico (Reuters) -Deep in the humid lowlands of southern Mexico, engineers, veterinarians and entomologists are racing to repurpose a plant that will play a pivotal role in trying to eradicate the flesh-eating screwworm parasite threatening the country’s cattle industry and raising tensions with the United States.

Inside what was once a facility used to help control Mediterranean fruit flies, workers are dismantling old infrastructure and rebuilding specialized laboratories designed to mimic the conditions of an animal wound, which screwworm flies seek in order to lay their eggs.

The transformation is part of Mexico’s urgent bid to start domestic production of sterile screwworm flies, a proven method to eradicate the pest that burrows into the flesh of warm-bl