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USDA pledges up to $750 million, import suspensions and expanded surveillance to fight screwworm threat near Texas border
Summary
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Governor Greg Abbott announced a multi‑pronged federal response to the reemergence of the new world screwworm near the U.S.–Mexico border, including import suspensions, immediate sterile‑fly production steps and plans for a large new U.S. production facility.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, joined by Governor Greg Abbott and state and federal officials in Austin, announced a broad federal push to prevent the new world screwworm from entering the United States and harming the cattle and livestock industries.
Rollins said the administration has already suspended live cattle, horse and bison imports through U.S. ports of entry along the southern border and has taken steps to expand sterile‑fly production and surveillance. "We have suspended live cattle, horse, and bison imports through US ports of entry along the southern border," she said, and described investments in both U.S. and Mexican production capacity.
The USDA plans a three‑part expansion: immediate measures to boost supply, a large domestic production facility, and a separate technology fund to accelerate detection and response while construction proceeds. Rollins said the agency launched an $8.5 million sterile‑fly dispersal facility in South Texas and invested about $21,000,000 to renovate a…
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