Keywords: Cochliomyia

Identification and functional analysis of Cochliomyia hominivorax U6 gene promoters

R. Novas, T. Basika, M. E. Williamson, P. Fresia, A. Menchaca and M. J. Scott,  Insect Molecular Biology,  2023.
The New World screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax, is an obligate parasite, which is a major pest of livestock. While the sterile insect technique was used very successfully to eradicate C. hominivorax from North and Central America, more cost-effective genetic methods will likely ...
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Zombie Deer and the Scientists Behind the War on the ‘Man Eater’

S. Jones,  NC STATE CALS News,  2022.
In the remote jungles of the Panama-Colombia border, sterile flesh-eating flies fall from the sky in the thousands. Released from retired military planes, they embark on a suicide mission for their species, with the sole purpose of duping their female counterparts into mating ...
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Historical perspective and new avenues to control the myiasis-causing fly Cochliomyia hominivorax in Uruguay.

Fresia P, Pimentel S, Iriarte V, Marques L, Durán V, Saravia A, Novas R, Basika T, Ferenczi A, Castells D, Saporiti T, Cuore U, Losiewicz S, Fernández F, Ciappesoni G, Dalla-Rizza M and M. A.,  Agrociencia Uruguay,  25:e974. 2021.
Mosca de la bichera’ or simply ‘bichera’ are common names given in Uruguay and the region to the primary myiasis-causing species Cochliomyia hominivorax, the New World Screwworm (NWS) fly (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Myiasis happens when dipteran larvae infest live animals at ...
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ARS Science Key to Stopping ‘Man-Eating’ Parasite

S. Elliott,  Tellus,  2021.
Screwworm infestations were once prevalent in the United States, with 230,000 cases reported in 1935 alone. ARS scientists Edward Knipling and Raymond Bushland conceived and developed the sterile insect technique (SIT) to control and eradicate screwworms. With SIT, sterilized ...
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Study Could Lead to Power Over Parasite

D. Shore,  ,  2020.
Scientists have long had a name for a gruesome insect that feeds on live flesh of warm-blooded mammals: C. hominivorax, Latin for “man eater.” But now, they have the parasite’s number. In a paper published this week in the journal Communications Biology, researchers from ...
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Genomic analyses of a livestock pest, the New World screwworm, find potential targets for genetic control programs

M. J. Scott, J. B. Benoit, R. J. Davis, S. T. Bailey, V. Varga, E. O. Martinson, P. V. Hickner, Z. Syed, G. A. Cardoso, T. T. Torres, M. T. Weirauch, E. H. Scholl, A. M. Phillippy, A. Sagel, M. Vasquez, G. Quintero and S. R. Skoda,  Nature Communications,  3:424. 2020.
We identify and analyze the expression of genes that are likely important for host-seeking behavior (chemosensory), development of larvae in open wounds in warm-blooded animals (heat shock protein, immune response) and for building transgenic strains for genetic control programs ...
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America’s Never-Ending Battle Against Flesh-Eating Worms

S. Zhang,  The Atlantic,  2020.
The United States Department of Agriculture undertook what would ultimately become an immense, multidecade effort to wipe out the screwworms, first in the U.S. and then in Mexico and Central America—all the way down to the narrow strip of land that is the Isthmus of Panama. The ...
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Eradication of the screwworm from Libya using the sterile insect technique

M. Vargas-Terán, B. S. Hursey and E. P. Cunningham,  Parasitology Today,  10:119-122. 1994.
The introduction in 1988 of the New World screwworrn into Libya presented a serious threat to the livestock and wildlife sectors of the African continent Mediterranean and the region. In this article, MoisPs Vargas-Terin, Brian 8. Hursey and Edward P. Cunningham describe the ...
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The New World Screwworm Eradication Programme. North Africa 1988-1992

Food and Agriculture Organization,  FAO,  1992.
This book documents a programme which was unusual in several respects. The campaign to eradicate the New World screwworm from North Africa was unusually large in financial terms. At the same time it was unusually short. Era dica tion itself took about six months, although it was ...
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