Flesh-eating screwworm infection detected in South Texas, USDA says
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Good thing our national health system is more robust, funded, and cooperative than ever.
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I'm not sure what kind of facility you can build for seven hundred fifty dollars, but it sounds like the kind of facility you would find in South Texas
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"$750 sterile fly production facility in South Texas" -- building costs must be much lower there than they are here! $750M?
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Theyyy're heeeeere...
Edit: Aw, crud, I didn't notice the green line above the headline already made this joke.
Edit: Aw, crud, I didn't notice the green line above the headline already made this joke.
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Holy fuck! Undermined all government and media sources in one sentence! I don't know how he walks with that gunshot wound to his foot, but it's hilarious that he was so adverse to being seen as the incompetent fuck he is he just completely dissed his bosses along with the rest of the media.
What the fuck is that message? "Trust the functionaries whose lips are permanently attached to Trump's ass and wait for them to ape what he says!"?
Forgetting entirely that Trump is an elected official, too
God the USDA should stamp itself "toxic, do not touch" and resign from the top down until someone competent is put in charge. But we know that won't happen.
Welcome to the future, folks, where even the flies will screw you.
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It's $750. The rest of the $750 million is being spent on the ballroom.
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Keeping these horrible things out for 60 years is a concrete example of government competence.
Both on the science side and all the coordination.
As public trust in government rapidly erodes, I worry about unseen programs like this starting to crack.
Both on the science side and all the coordination.
As public trust in government rapidly erodes, I worry about unseen programs like this starting to crack.
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Resistance
Wise, Aged Ars Veteran
That's the problem with effective governance, people rarely notice when they don't suffer as a result of something the government prevented.
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In March 2025, the current administration terminated USAID Projects, which included a $250 million program managed by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. This program sought to maintain the historic "biological barrier" in Panama, and included monitoring and containing the New World Screwworm in Central America. It served as an early warning and containment system to prevent NWS from reaching the USA.
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Ah, I'm sure the Trump administration will handle this immediately and shut the NVSL down.
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Wasn't there coverage on Ars about this program getting hit by Musk & DOGE because Ag coordinated with USAID?
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Ooooh. Here's an opportunity.
Send Kennedy and his boss to deal with the problem firsthand. Have them apply loads of bleach (both externally and internally).
Send Kennedy and his boss to deal with the problem firsthand. Have them apply loads of bleach (both externally and internally).
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It's been decades in the making, but the Reaganites have reached their final form.
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No, no, no. Are you daft? For screwflies you MUST apply copious amounts of beef tallow to your entire body.
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"It will be the biggest eradication in history, you'll see, all the best people are on it, the absolute best, top top people, and it will just be beautiful at how eradicated it is, let me tell you."
-Trump, President of the United States of America
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If/when this decimates US cattle herds, I wonder if the people who blamed Biden for the high eggs prices (because flocks were culled to try to manage avian flu) will be blaming Trump?
no, they'll still blame Biden.
no, they'll still blame Biden.
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As a Texan, I find that ludicrous. Tallow only belongs on brisket just before you wrap. And when basting steaks in a cast iron skillet. Never suggest abusing beef tallow like that ever again.
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You can also fry potatoes in it for amazing fries.As a Texan, I find that ludicrous. Tallow only belongs on brisket just before you wrap. And when basting steaks in a cast iron skillet. Never suggest abusing beef tallow like that ever again.
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As I recall, it was in part people illegally moving livestock through the gap, plus decreased attention to the eradication program.
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