LONDON, November 10. /TASS/. US authorities plan to build a plant in Texas worth more than $600 mln to breed sterile flies to fight parasites affecting cattle, Reuters reported.

According to the news agency, this measure, under which sterile insects unable to reproduce are specially bred and then released into the wild, will help curb the spread of flesh-eating screwworm flies - parasites that affect cattle, sheep, and dogs. State authorities estimate that a widespread outbreak of these parasites could cause several billion dollars in damage to US agriculture, Reuters said.

The facility will start operating in the spring of 2027, the news agency said. Currently, the US does not have any established facilities for sterile fly breeding, so Washington is cooperating in this area with Panama and Mexico to prevent an epidemic among livestock in the southern part of the country.

In March 2026, the Pentagon announced that it had signed a contract with MA Mortenson to build a sterile fly breeding factory, worth $610 mln. It was stated then that construction work in Texas would continue until December 2028.