Screwworms are coming—and they’re just as horrifying as they sound
Screwworms are coming—and they’re just as horrifying as they sound
US is now scrambling to use aerial bombs of sterilized flies to halt the spread.
tl;Dr
screwworms are a species of fly that lays eggs in open wounds or orifices, after which the larvae will feed on the hatching site, typically causing more screwworms to lay eggs. they were mostly eradicated via releasing millions of irradiated, sterile males into their population, a thing we still do every month, but for whatever reason, they broke through the biological barrier keeping them back and have made it all the way to Mexico.
the infection of eggs and larvae is incredibly painful and horrifying, and while humans are much less likely to be affected, the agriculture sector will take an enormous hit to their livestocks if it keeps spreading.
Ah. Well another once in a lifetime event hits us.
This thing?
Good thing we only have the best and brightest leading the health department and USDA right now.
Time to make more cuts in disaster relief and disease control.
I'm sorry, but this really is a 'nuke the entire site from orbit' situation. The loss of the southern US and Central America will, of course, be mourned as a terrible loss, but it'll be worth it to make sure those things are dealt with. Permanently.
I assure you, few people will miss the southern US. Mexico? Definitely. Central America? Yep. But the US south? Fuck that.
You clearly haven’t watched enough scifi to know that nukes never wipe out the parasitic lifeforms / monster(s).
Yea, but then we will still have roaches…
Fail
More. Nukes.
Failing that we use those roboroaches they developed a while back to lead the other roaches to live in the crater. They can have that bit. The inevitable plague of supersized mutant cockroaches we'd suffer in a few generations is a problem for later.
Man, don't read this article unless you have a strange desire to have nightmares.
I read it in full and watched the whole linked video. I do not recommend for the queezy, i was fascinated by it tho.
Did you see the deer?
It was horrible.
Holy. Fuck. I grew up on a farm. I've seen some shit; that just comes with the territory when livestock, heavy equipment, and farm implements are involved. Fly strike alone will have you napalming flying insects.
That video of the myiasis infection in the dude's nose... <shiver>. Clive Barker wishes he could make horror like that.
Edit: I'm an idiot. Myiasis == fly strike. The species of fly is the variable.
+1 for Clive barker reference.
The man is a master of creating disturbing and viscerally disgusting images with words. (He's my fav author)
To say it's something even beyond him.... I can't begin to imagine how horrific it could be.
Anyone have irradiated flesh eating flies on your 2025 bingo card?
With this, and the man producing an all-antivenom after being bitten a lot by snakes, the new Marvel arc looks interesting.
Oh no, New Vegas cazadores
Look, all you need to do is fill the hole where they burrow into you with Vaseline and cover it with duct tape for a couple days. Except for your pets, of course. For them you have to squeeze it like a zit and when you can see the face, grab it with a pair of pliers and slowly....gently...extract it.
Or, maybe, like, have a functioning government.
Send them to Mar-A-Lago please.
This makes me glad that I immediately hunt down any fly I find in my home until it is dead. I had a sudden fly infestation years ago and have never been lazy about even just one fly in my home since.
It is the reason I have one of those electric swatters. The fuckers get near my sink, I just start lazily waving the swatter over the area and get them all.
I immediately knew the author of this piece. If you ever need a dose of revulsion and nausea, I highly recommend any of Beth Mole's articles on parasites, worms and other nightmares.
Any good links?
See, this is a thing that I do not want (and have not even read the article in the linked post due to this). However, I gotta say that your recommendation has me intrigued (over recent years, I have been trying to be more mindful of who is writing the various bits of non-fiction that I enjoy (especially journalists), so your mentioning this person's name sticks out to me)
Probably another area where the government will save money to finance more millionaires tax breaks.
Trump will get right on that. 🤦🏻♂️
Thanks, I hate it
sounds woke to me, I will ask Trump to ban the use of the word.
So they were pushed back to South America once, why can't they be pushed back again? How'd they get past Panama if there's a sterile fly production/release facility there?
😐 Jesus fucking Christ
