On Jun. 18, 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it has launched an $8.5 million sterile New World screwworm (NWS) fly dispersal facility in South Texas and announced a sweeping five-pronged plan to enhance USDA’s already robust ability to detect, control, and eliminate this pest.

NWS is a devastating pest that causes serious and often deadly damage to livestock, wildlife, pets, and in rare cases, humans. While NWS has been eradicated from the United States for decades, recent detections in Mexico as far north as Oaxaca and Veracruz, about 700 miles away from the U.S. border, led to the immediate suspension of live cattle, horse, and bison imports through U.S. ports of entry along the southern border on May 11, 2025.

Following the dispersal facility groundbreaking at Moore Air Base, Secretary Rollins met with APHIS’s cattle fever tick riders along the Rio Grande River. The Secretary saw firsthand the critical role tick riders provide for identifying wildlife and preventing the spread of wild disease. In the event NWS advances northward into the U.S., these tick riders will play a crucial role in spotting and combatting this pest.