alt Hacker NewsDeadly Screwworm Parasite's Comeback Threatens Texas Cattle, US Beef Supply
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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.
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.
More on the screwworm barrier and how it was established. This is one of my favorite “magazine style” feature stories.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/05/flesh-ea...
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.
It's a great day to be heavily punishing imports!
I first learned about these delightful creatures after reading The Screwfly Solution by Alice Sheldon:
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.)
” 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”
Quick, get those cattle a special preparation of carrot juice, cod liver oil and turmeric, stat!
Oh well, we can just import beef with our renowned free trade policies.
> “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.
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)_/¯
Ivermectin kills screwworm. We've been using ivermectin regularly for years on Texas cattle. And there are other ways to deal with screwworm as the article states. Let the farmers and the appropriate agencies deal with it.
Should you get screwworm see a doctor. If you can't afford a doctor or are an illegal alien and have screwworm then go to a local Texas rancho and help apply ivermectin to their cattle. They will appreciate the help and you'll get enough slathered on you to last a year.
https://archive.is/ul6JR