close Video

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

The United States plans to breed thousands of sterile flies in a southern Texas factory in an effort to protect American cattle from flesh-eating maggots in Mexico.

The New World screwworm is a "devastating pest," the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a news release this week.

"When NWS fly larvae (maggots) burrow into the flesh of a living animal, they cause serious, often deadly damage to the animal. NWS can infest livestock, pets, wildlife, occasionally birds and, in rare cases, people. It is not only a threat to our ranching community, but it is a threat to our food supply and our national security."

Factory construction is expected to cost $750 million, and it would be located at Moore Air Force Base outside Edi

See Full Page