Mexico Calls for Research Collaboration to Combat Screw-Worm

The Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER) and Science, Humanities, Technology, and Innovation (SECIHTI) issued a call to researchers to join forces in addressing the screw-worm (GBG) infestation nationwide. The announcement came during a meeting that shared the most pressing research priorities and presented a protocol for receiving GBG biological material. The protocol applies to academic institutions, research centers, and public or private laboratories with proven biosafety and entomological handling capabilities.

Rosaura Ruiz, Director, SECIHTI, urged inter-ministerial coordination to strengthen scientific research and develop solutions to national priorities, including the impact of GBG on the livestock sector. She reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to combining capacities and facilitating collaboration with higher education and research institutions to consolidate equipment, protocols, and studies needed for this effort.

Ruiz added that SECIHTI’s role is to support researchers working on the project, in coordination with SADER and the National Service for Agri-Food Health, Safety, and Quality (SENASICA), to advance solutions based on scientific evidence.

Javier Calderón, Director, SENASICA, addressed researchers, highlighting the agency’s role in protecting Mexican agriculture through science-based procedures. He stressed the importance of forming alliances with academia and research institutions to respond to the GBG outbreak.

Calderón noted that the current GBG infestation requires government agencies to present proposals, tools, and viable solutions for affected regions while establishing measures to prevent its spread to free zones. He recalled that Mexico first eradicated the pest in 1991 with support from the United States, using a strategy based on three pillars: inspection and treatment of infested areas in the field; monitoring of livestock movements; and application of the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT).

While modern technologies are available to combat the insect, Calderón said it is critical to strengthen field operations with precise and innovative techniques alongside the production of sterile GBG flies. Unlike the Mediterranean fruit fly, it is currently impossible to differentiate the sex of GBG specimens in egg, larva, and pupa stages, making this a key research priority.

The agency also called on academia and the scientific community to collaborate on developing and evaluating attractants for wild GBG flies, which currently last an average of three days. Other areas of focus include the development of biopesticides, traps and baits, genomic and microbiome sequencing, vaccines affecting larval survival or development, and identification of natural enemies of the insect.

Calderón highlighted ongoing research using entomopathogenic fungi in traps as a method to control GBG. Institutions such as the Universidad Autónoma de Queretaro (UAQ), Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo (UACh), Colegio de Postgraduados (COLPOS), and Instituto de Ecología (INECOL) are already collaborating with SENASICA on various projects.

During the meeting, researchers from UNAM, Universidad Veracruzana, and INECOL reported working on scarifying insecticides safe for pollinators, long-release attractants, human repellents, identification of ecological niches, and symbiont organisms against GBG.