One year later and the worm is still in its forced quarantine
It turns out that just a year ago, Mexico detected an unwanted guest in its livestock: the screwworm (GBG). And no, it is not the name of an indie rock band, but of a plague that sounds like a bizarre horror movie. But don’t worry, because according to Senasica (the anti-pigeon squad of the Ministry of Agriculture), the situation is… contained. Basically, 99.9% of active cases are on vacation in the south-southeast of the country. It’s as if the worm has decided that Cancun and the Riviera Maya are its favorite destination, and the north of the country doesn’t even look at it.
Currently, there are 941 cases being followed up. Sounds like a lot, right? Well, in reality it is only 0.003% of the national livestock herd. It’s the equivalent of three people wearing an ugly shirt at a Bad Bunny concert: statistically insignificant, but you still have to keep an eye on them. And all this thanks to a health operation that seems to come out of a mission impossible protocol, but with fewer masks and more rubber boots.
The most epic operation (and that no one saw on Netflix)
To control this pest, the largest zoosanitary operation in recent decades was deployed. Imagine an army of 1,195 people – technicians, inspectors, the ‘soldiers’ of the field – doing everything from inspections to treatments, and restricting the movement of animals as if they were influencers at an airport. As part of border control, 2.2 million animals have been checked and treated. Yes, millions. Basically, they have put up a sanitary fence that makes the ‘Game of Thrones’ wall look like a garden fence.
But collaboration does not stay at home. In a plot twist that no one expected, Mexico and the United States teamed up to launch the most peculiar counterattack: the release of more than 4 billion sterile flies. No, it’s not the latest TikTok trend; It is an insect suppression technique. It’s like a fly dating reality show where all the dates go wrong and the population dwindles. This measure is part of the Senasica-APHIS Joint Action Plan, signed in August 2025, which sounds like an interstellar treaty but is pure applied science.
The future is now (and it comes with more sterile flies)
And in case anyone thought this was over, the start-up of the Sterile Fly Production Plant in Metapa de Domínguez, Chiapas is scheduled for 2026. This single insect factory will have the capacity to produce 100 million sterile flies per week. Basically, it will be the most effective and massive Tinder for flies, where all matches are a dead end. This will strengthen containment and eradication actions, taking the battle to a new level.
The country is moving from the containment phase to preparing for the total eradication of the screwworm. But, as in any good drama, challenges persist: the climatic conditions favorable to the insect (because the worm loves warmth), the operational complexity of field deployment (coordinating so many people is not a meme) and the need to maintain the training and collaboration of producers and technicians in the territory. In short, the fight continues, but at least we are winning for now.
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