Yemen is experiencing an outbreak of the “screw worm” fly which eats away at the flesh of livestock. The flies lay eggs in open wounds of animals, and the resulting maggots consume the animal until it eventually dies.

Besides being brutal to animals, it's a huge threat to the livelihoods of farmers who have depended on rearing livestock for generations. This is especially the case because farmers in Yemen often only own the livestock -- not the land -- and so those farmers' complete investment evaporates when livestock are killed.

So far, there are 20,000 cases of screw worm in Yemen, mostly in sheep and goats. Some groups like the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development are looking into ways to combat the fly. One solution is to use the screw worm flies against themselves by sterilizing male screw worms flies and releasing them.

The Yemen screw worm is the “old world” fly. The “new world” species of screw worm caused $100 million per year worth of damage to American livestock in the 1950s and 1960s. Both types are the most devastating parasite for livestock.

Sources: Science Daily and New Scientist

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