Home / Environment / Mexico town chokes on screwworm plant stench
Mexico town chokes on screwworm plant stench
16 Oct
Summary
- Residents complain of unbearable rotting smell near sterile fly plant.
- The plant aims to combat the flesh-eating screwworm parasite.
- US invested $21 million to halt the screwworm outbreak.
Residents in Metapa de Dominguez, Chiapas, Mexico, protested on a recent Thursday, demanding the removal of a sterile-fly plant. The facility has been releasing a pungent odor, described by locals as similar to rotting meat, which has spread throughout the town and disrupted classes at nearby schools.
The complaints arise less than four months after the plant's inauguration on June 27. The United States contributed $21 million to the $51 million facility, which is designed to combat the New World screwworm parasite. This pest's larvae infest and can kill livestock if left untreated, leading the US to ban Mexican cattle imports for over a year.
The Metapa plant is intended to produce 100 million sterile flies weekly. These flies are released to mate with wild screwworm flies, rendering them infertile and thus suppressing the pest population. Mexico has reported nearly 48,000 screwworm cases, while the US has recorded 53 during the current outbreak.
