US boosts drone surveillance as flesh-eating screwworms spread in Texas
US boosts drone surveillance as flesh-eating screwworms spread in Texas
美国加强无人机监控，应对德克萨斯州食肉螺旋蝇疫情蔓延
Hundreds of US government drones have switched from border surveillance to a different surveillance mission this summer—looking for signs of screwworm infestations in wild animals and livestock herds. 今年夏天，数百架美国政府无人机已从边境监控转向了一项新的任务——搜寻野生动物和牲畜群中螺旋蝇感染的迹象。
The flesh-eating New World Screwworm is the parasitic larva that emerges from eggs laid by flies in the open wounds or body openings of warm-blooded animals and humans, with untreated cases potentially leading to severe injury or death. 食肉的新世界螺旋蝇是一种寄生幼虫，由苍蝇在温血动物和人类的开放性伤口或体腔内产卵孵化而成。若不及时治疗，可能导致严重伤害甚至死亡。
Since the first screwworm cases were detected in South Texas in June, the US Department of Agriculture and US Customs and Border Protection have been conducting “one of the most extensive animal-health surveillance operations in the country,” according to the USDA in social media posts on platforms like X and Facebook on August 10. 据美国农业部（USDA）8月10日在X和Facebook等社交媒体平台发布的消息，自6月在德克萨斯州南部发现首例螺旋蝇病例以来，美国农业部与美国海关及边境保护局（CBP）一直在开展“全国范围内规模最大的动物健康监测行动之一”。
The effort involves at least 200 drones owned by the Department of Homeland Security, which includes the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency. The USDA has described performing more than 1,000 drone flights and surveying more than 22,000 animals so far. 这项工作动用了至少200架隶属于国土安全部（包括海关及边境保护局）的无人机。据美国农业部称，目前已执行了超过1000次无人机飞行任务，监测了超过2.2万只动物。
However, it’s unclear if any of the drone flights may have led to detections of animals infested by screwworms in the United States. The USDA dashboard showed 45 confirmed cases in domesticated animals across South Texas and New Mexico as of August 12. Most infestations involved cattle or sheep, with several dogs and a goat also being listed. 然而，目前尚不清楚这些无人机飞行任务是否在美国境内成功发现了受螺旋蝇感染的动物。截至8月12日，美国农业部的数据显示，德克萨斯州南部和新墨西哥州的家畜中共有45例确诊病例。大多数感染涉及牛或羊，此外还有几只狗和一只山羊。
Ars reached out to CBP and USDA for additional information on the number of drones involved in the surveillance campaign and how many screwworm cases were detected as a result of such drone surveillance. Ars已联系海关及边境保护局和美国农业部，以获取有关参与此次监控行动的无人机数量，以及通过无人机监控发现了多少起螺旋蝇病例的更多信息。
How drone surveillance of animals works
动物无人机监控的工作原理
The main drone featured in the animal health surveillance campaign appears to be the Skydio X10 quadcopter, which carries a thermal imaging sensor capable of detecting temperature differences. Such infrared sensors can detect higher body temperatures in animals that may have a fever related to secondary bacterial infections from screwworm infestation. 此次动物健康监测行动中使用的主要无人机似乎是Skydio X10四轴飞行器，它搭载了能够探测温差的热成像传感器。这种红外传感器可以探测到动物体温升高的情况，这可能是由于螺旋蝇感染引发的继发性细菌感染导致发烧所致。
Drone operators working for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service under the USDA can also use high-resolution color imagery to look for open sores on animal bodies or check for abnormal behavior, such as “loner” animals, according to a USDA article and video that described an operation at a ranch in Junction, Texas, on June 18. 根据美国农业部一篇介绍6月18日在德克萨斯州章克申（Junction）一处牧场行动的文章和视频，隶属于美国农业部动植物卫生检验局的无人机操作员还可以利用高分辨率彩色图像，寻找动物体表的开放性伤口，或检查是否存在异常行为，例如“离群”的动物。
With the landowner’s permission, the drone teams arrived shortly after sunrise to survey both livestock and wildlife on the ranch. That is because the early morning work hours made it easier for the drone’s infrared sensors to detect warm-blooded animals against the relatively cooler ground. 在获得土地所有者许可后，无人机团队在日出后不久抵达，对牧场内的牲畜和野生动物进行监测。这是因为清晨的工作时间使无人机的红外传感器更容易在相对凉爽的地面背景下探测到温血动物。
The USDA is currently researching ways to use AI to “analyze drone imagery to detect wounds, identify animals and prioritize inspections,” according to the department. Besides using drones for aerial surveillance, USDA has also relied on stationary cameras installed near trails to make more than 26,000 animal observations. It has also established and monitored more than 8,000 fly traps—although there have been no fly trap detections related to screwworm despite the recorded animal cases in the United States. 据美国农业部称，该部门目前正在研究如何利用人工智能“分析无人机图像，以检测伤口、识别动物并确定检查优先级”。除了使用无人机进行空中监控外，美国农业部还依靠安装在小径附近的固定摄像头进行了超过2.6万次动物观察。此外，他们还设置并监测了超过8000个捕蝇器——尽管美国境内已有动物感染记录，但目前尚未通过捕蝇器检测到螺旋蝇。
From detection to eradication
从检测到根除
The drones represent “an important force multiplier” for surveying larger numbers of animals in potentially rough terrain but do not replace the “proven eradication method” of releasing sterile male flies to keep down the New World Screwworm fly population in the wild, according to the USDA article. 根据美国农业部的文章，无人机是监测崎岖地形中大量动物的“重要力量倍增器”，但它们无法取代释放不育雄蝇以抑制野生新世界螺旋蝇种群数量这一“行之有效的根除方法”。
That method, called Sterile Insect Technique, was originally successful in eradicating flies from the United States and Central America and pushing the screwworm population back beyond the Darién Gap at the border of Panama and Colombia. But the screwworm flies breached the barrier in 2022 and have made their way northward, eventually leading to the new US cases in animals this year. 这种被称为“昆虫不育技术”的方法最初成功地将螺旋蝇从美国和中美洲根除，并将螺旋蝇种群推回至巴拿马和哥伦比亚边境的达连地峡（Darién Gap）之外。然而，螺旋蝇在2022年突破了这一屏障并向北蔓延，最终导致了今年美国境内出现新的动物病例。
To combat the spread, the USDA jointly funds and manages a sterile fly production facility with Panama that releases about 100 million sterile flies each week. It also began releasing a similar number of sterile flies per week in Mexico after completing a $21 million renovation to a fruit fly facility in June. 为了遏制蔓延，美国农业部与巴拿马共同资助并管理着一家不育蝇生产设施，每周释放约1亿只不育蝇。在6月份完成对一家果蝇设施的2100万美元翻新工程后，美国也开始在墨西哥每周释放同等数量的不育蝇。
Now that US screwworm cases have appeared, the USDA has been working with the US Army Corps of Engineers to build a new sterile fly production facility at Moore Air Base in South Texas. US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said that the facility is scheduled for completion by April 1, 2027, according to Border Report. 随着美国境内出现螺旋蝇病例，美国农业部一直在与美国陆军工程兵团合作，在德克萨斯州南部的摩尔空军基地（Moore Air Base）建设一个新的不育蝇生产设施。据《边境报道》（Border Report）称，美国农业部长布鲁克·罗林斯（Brooke Rollins）表示，该设施计划于2027年4月1日前完工。
On July 29, Rollins also announced that the USDA was providing $25 million to build a separate sterile fly facility in Douglas, Arizona. The USDA press release suggested that “construction could be completed in as little as several months.” 7月29日，罗林斯还宣布美国农业部将提供2500万美元，在亚利桑那州道格拉斯（Douglas）建设另一个独立的不育蝇设施。美国农业部的新闻稿称，“建设工作最快可能在几个月内完成”。
The biggest threat that screwworm poses in the US is currently to the livestock industry. But Mexico has already seen over 500 human cases in 2025 and 2026, with a recent study suggesting that the infestation rate is accelerating. 目前，螺旋蝇对美国构成的最大威胁是畜牧业。但墨西哥在2025年和2026年已经出现了超过500例人类感染病例，最近的一项研究表明，感染率正在加速上升。