Under Secretary Shares Details of New World Screwworm Grand Challenge

With the announcement of the New World Screwworm Grand Challenge, USDA is taking a major step toward strengthening its preparedness and response to one of the most serious threats to animal health. Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Dudley Hoskins shared details of the new initiative, which aims to expand tools, technologies, and partnerships to prevent the spread and impact of screwworms. Hoskins explained that USDA is committing significant resources to the effort. “Under the Grand Challenge, USDA is making up to 100 million dollars to basically review, vet, and hopefully operationalize technologies and new innovations that are going to build our toolbox in preventing the spread, the impact of the screwworm.” The funding is intended to accelerate promising ideas from concept to real-world application. A key focus of the initiative is enhancing sterile fly production, a cornerstone of screwworm control efforts. “The Secretary’s charge is to help our partners ...