by perihelions on 5/3/25, 6:48 PM
by throwup238 on 5/3/25, 7:10 PM
This is why a competent and well staffed bureaucracy is so important. Screwworm is really easy to eliminate by flooding their population with males sterilized by radiation (females only mate once in their lifetime so their population falls off
fast). There are factories in Latin America already set up to do so at large scale, all it would take is a contract with the USDA to guarantee enough supply for the states.
Edit: Hah, I get to eat my words. Turns out USDA and APHIS have been trying to fly planes over Mexico to release the sterile flies, but the Mexican government has been restricting the flight days and denying landing permission, which has hampered the program. Looks like the Mexican bureaucracy is the one failing here, and USDA/APHIS might be running pre-emptive releases in the US (but I can't find a source on that). They just agreed to lift those restrictions and cooperate more at the end of April.
by accrual on 5/3/25, 7:03 PM
This topic always leads me back to reading about the Darién Gap [0]. When eradication was working successfully, they had managed to push the screwworm population all the way back to the Gap and keep it out of major population/agriculture areas. There were (or are) yearly efforts to perform the sterile insect technique [1]. Expensive to perform, but worth it for all the damage they'd otherwise cause if left unchecked.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dari%C3%A9n_Gap
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterile_insect_technique
by snowwrestler on 5/3/25, 7:12 PM
by neuroelectron on 5/3/25, 6:54 PM
Is ivermectin not an option? My fat pet rat got mites and was miserable, itchy and too painful to scratch. One grain of rice dose from the infamous horse tube cleared him right up.
by giardini on 5/4/25, 9:39 PM
>
Outside a bar in southern Arizona in 1890, a stagecoach driver stumbled into the night and fell asleep in the open air, unknowingly becoming host to hundreds of screwworms while passed out drunk. The parasitic insects made their way through his nose, into his throat, and eventually killed him — a grim but once relatively common occurrence.<
From
"Screwworm eradication lessons from a longtime veterinarian"
https://www.agdaily.com/livestock/screwworm-eradication-less...
An excellent article on the realities of screwworm in USA. It also speaks of topical treatments! Unfortunately though and to our great loss no doubt, it does not go into detail about "the scrotal area post castration" of unsnap_biceps fascination on these posts nor "lambs ...licking the topically applied ivermectin" so titillating to 8note. (FWIW ivermectin pour-ons contain ethanol.)
by danso on 5/3/25, 7:53 PM
Tangential aside but what does this mean:
> live demonstrations on how to handle cattle to reduce stress.(Every cow pie released by a stressed-out cow before it gets weighed by meat processers amounts to $6 in lost profit.)
by drumhead on 5/4/25, 9:45 AM
This is going to be a test of the "new improved" post Doge USDA. We'll see how well it copes with a real agricultural crisis with reduced staffing and funds.
by reverendsteveii on 5/3/25, 7:37 PM
It's a great day to be heavily punishing imports!
by unfitted2545 on 5/3/25, 7:22 PM
good day to be a vegan.
by scandox on 5/3/25, 9:30 PM
by andsoitis on 5/3/25, 6:55 PM
” Now, after being eradicated from the US since the early 1980s and largely forgotten, top veterinarians expect the screwworm could be back as soon as the summer. More than 950 cases have been reported in Mexico so far this year, including one within miles of a livestock checkpoint in Chiapas. A resurgence in the US would have devastating consequences for farm animals and wildlife”
by davidw on 5/3/25, 6:54 PM
Quick, get those cattle a special preparation of carrot juice, cod liver oil and turmeric, stat!
by kylehotchkiss on 5/3/25, 7:38 PM
With this and bird flu and inflation, it wouldn’t hurt people to learn to eat less meat throughout the week. A day or two vegetarian so if any of these things escalate at least you have a feel for it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
by labster on 5/3/25, 7:03 PM
Oh well, we can just import beef with our renowned free trade policies.
by Krasnol on 5/3/25, 6:52 PM
> “New World Screwworm: The Threat Returns.”
I love this. The whole country is like movie theme parks patched together seamlessly.
I wonder how the king will frame this.