Last Modified: November 21, 2025
Dispersal facility construction in Texas

Sterile fly production and dispersal efforts are critical to an effective New World screwworm eradication program. USDA is investing significantly to renovate existing and construct new facilities in the United States and Mexico to stop the spread of screwworm.

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Production Facilities

Pacora, Panama

  1. Planning completed
  2. Design completed
  3. Construction completed
  4. Operational

USDA and Panama’s Ministry of Agriculture Development (MIDA) jointly manage and fund the only NWS sterile fly production facility currently in operation in North America through COPEG. The facility produces and disperses approximately 100 million sterile flies per week. 

Metapa, Mexico

  1. Planning completed
  2. Design completed
  3. Construction
  4. Operational not completed

USDA is investing $21 million to help renovate and convert an existing fruit fly facility in Metapa, Mexico. Once complete, the facility is expected to produce an additional 60–100 million sterile NWS flies per week. With continued support from APHIS technical experts, Mexico expects production to begin as early as summer 2026.

Moore Air Base, Texas

  1. Planning
  2. Design not completed
  3. Construction not completed
  4. Operational not completed

Planning is underway with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for construction of a domestic sterile fly production facility in Southern Texas, with a projected capacity of 300 million sterile flies per week. This will be the only U.S.-based sterile fly production facility and will work in tandem with facilities in Panama and Mexico to help eradicate the pest and protect American agriculture. 

Dispersal Facilities

Tampico, Mexico

  1. Planning completed
  2. Design completed
  3. Construction completed
  4. Operational

In November 2025, USDA opened a sterile fly dispersal facility in Tampico, Mexico. This facility allows USDA to disperse sterile flies aerially across northeastern Mexico, including in Nuevo Leon.

Moore Air Base, Texas

  1. Planning completed
  2. Design completed
  3. Construction
  4. Operational not completed

Construction is underway on a sterile fly dispersal facility at Moore Air Force Base in Edinburg, TX. This $8.5 million facility, expected to be substantially complete by the end of 2025, will be capable of dispersing up to 100 million sterile flies per week.