Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread

usda.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 219 posts

Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread

#31

Post by smallmancontrov »

cogman10 wrote: post #22
ajmurmann wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it "used to be"? I've heard about the program before and thought it was incredible. What happened to it? Edit: Brief research tells me the screwworms broke though to Mexico in November 2024 after cases started increasing north of the Darian Gap throughout 2023 ( https://www.aphis.usda.gov/news/program-update/new-world-scr... ). It does seem like the funding now is happening through USDA rather than USAID ( htt…

DOGE. It was ran by USAID.

[flagged]

Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread

#32

Post by jfengel »

hobs wrote: post #25
zeagle wrote: post #11

[flagged]

Well, if destroying things that have only positive outcomes for your constituents is not dysfunction then what is?

It's not dysfunction if the function was to harm other people. If there happens to be a bit of blowback, well, I'm sure it was worth it.

Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread

#34

Post by VladVladikoff »

cogman10 wrote: post #22
ajmurmann wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it "used to be"? I've heard about the program before and thought it was incredible. What happened to it? Edit: Brief research tells me the screwworms broke though to Mexico in November 2024 after cases started increasing north of the Darian Gap throughout 2023 ( https://www.aphis.usda.gov/news/program-update/new-world-scr... ). It does seem like the funding now is happening through USDA rather than USAID ( htt…

DOGE. It was ran by USAID.

It was failing long before this. The border used to be down by Panama.

Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread

#35

Post by righthand »

echelon wrote: post #8
icy wrote: post #2

[flagged]

[flagged]

Laws and regulation didn’t evolve from mother nature, so we should start killing each other because it’s natural?

Or it’s only natural when a non-human species is killed off by another species?

Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread

#36

Post by ethan_smith »

mistyvales wrote: post #16

Didn't they pull funding for mitigation programs regarding this? Or was that rescinded?

Yes, the USDA-APHIS Screwworm Barrier Maintenance Program had its funding reduced by 30% in the 2024 budget, which significantly impacted sterile fly production capacity at the Panama facility.

Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread

#37

Post by amoshebb »

Some folks are posting about the regular flights over Panama, and I’ve seen talk about ending screwworm with a “gene drive”, but I also feel that it doesn’t feel necessary.

But a third option I don’t see talked about a lot: finish the job. We could drop sterile flies all over the USA and Mexico all the way into panama with 1950s tech. We have drones now, surely some inexpensive paper planes shoved out of the back of hercs could cover roughly all of south america for fairly cheap.

Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread

#38

Post by guerrilla »

neom wrote: post #9

I'd never head of screwworm before, turns out it's not a worm, this page is pretty decent: https://cr.usembassy.gov/sections-offices/aphis/screwworm-pr... "A screwworm infestation is caused by larvae of the fly Cochliomyia hominivorax. These larvae can infest wounds of any warm-blooded animal, including human beings. The screwworm fly is about twice the size of a regular house fly and can be distinguished by its gree…

> Screwworm larvae distinguish themselves from other species by feeding only on the living flesh, never dead tissue.

What assholes. :(

Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread

#39

Post by delichon »

croes wrote: post #24
echelon wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

By that logic you could argue rape is just nature too. At some point mankind added moral.

Of course rape is natural. Orangutans, ducks, geese, and certain dolphin species also rape. That's a problem if you think "natural" justifies human behavior, but why would it?

Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread

#40

Post by superxpro12 »

jfengel wrote: post #30
grej wrote: post #26

The US successfully eradicated screwworms here in 1966 with a brilliant integrated sterile insect technique - I think the very first use of it (and had previously funded helping other countries control it also). But if we had another outbreak spread, I doubt there's any shred of competence left in this current gutted federal government to do anything like that again. Maybe they can have the new ICE folks try to depor…

They announced funding to do it again, back in June. But I have no idea if there's anyone around to pay.

Lead times are asymmetric.
Post reply on HN