IAEA Director General Explores Future Cooperation with Cuba in Combatting New World Screwworm

The New World screwworm fly is a pest that attacks injured animals and can kill an adult cow within weeks. Female screwworms lay their eggs close to open wounds from which maggots emerge, which feeds on the live tissue of animals they are also known as the 'flesh-eating screwworms'.

If not eliminated quickly, this virulent pest can impact the cattle industry in the Americas. This pest poses a serious threat to Cuba, impacting its meat and milk production and affecting the sustainability of the cattle industry. The economic impact of this pest in North and Central America was estimated at over US $1.5 billion per year before the pest was eradicated from this region using the SIT as part of an integrated control programme that was implemented from the 1950s to 2000s. 

Mr Amano informed Cuban officials about the IAEA's willingness to assist the country again to fight the New World screwworm through capacity building and a feasibility study to control this pest using the SIT as part of the national integrated mosquito programme.

To read more please visit: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/iaea-director-general-explores-future-cooperation-with-cuba-in-combatting-new-world-screwworm

Source: IAEA