EDINBURG, Texas — The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers broke ground on Friday on a $750 million facility at Moore Air Base in Edinburg that will produce sterile flies to help prevent a New World screwworm invasion, officials said.
The facility is expected to begin operations by November 2027 and will initially produce about 100 million sterile flies per week, with plans to scale up to 300 million per week, according to a federal news release.
The project is designed to protect the U.S. livestock industry from the New World screwworm, a parasitic fly whose larvae feed on living tissue in animals.
Officials said the program will use a sterile insect technique, in which scientists produce and release sterile male flies. When female screwworm flies mate with sterile males, the eggs do not hatch, reducing the population over time.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said the facility will strengthen protections for livestock and rural economies. She said the screwworm poses a threat to herds and supply chains.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention said the screwworm is not present in the United States but remains active in Mexico and parts of Central America. Officials said cases have been detected approximately 90 miles from the U.S. border as of April 2026.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lt. Gen. William Graham said the facility will serve as a long-term defensive measure against the parasite.
The Edinburg site will operate alongside existing and planned facilities, including a plant in Panama that produces 100 million sterile flies per week and a facility in Mexico expected to begin operations in 2026. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also opened a sterile fly dispersal facility at Moore Air Base earlier in the year.
Members of Congress attended the groundbreaking and said the project supports Texas’ cattle industry. Texas ranks first in the United States in cattle production, according to federal and state officials.