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"Though it appeared DOGE did cancel funding to the FAO, which works to monitor and control outbreaks of screwworm, in 2025, it was not possible based on the available evidence to conclude that the canceled grant directly caused the outbreak in the U.S. or to determine how it might have affected the FAO's work to contain the parasite in Central America."

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My interpretation would be that, as the parent article says, there were circumstances that have been leading to this outbreak for years. It may have happened even if Trump were never elected. However, one thing this article makes very clear is that screwworm control measures need to be in place across international borders. It takes efforts in Mexico and further South to stop screwworms before they reach the U.S.. Funding screwworm control in Mesoamerica is actually in the U.S.'s self-interest.

While this particular outbreak may have occurred anyways, cutting funding to screwworm control in Mexico and further South as a part of cutting foreign aid likely exacerbated the problem and will prolong the outbreak. The U.S., purely out of self-interest, should have been boosting funding to screwworm control South of their own borders in 2025, not slashing it.

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[1]https://www.snopes.com/news/2026/06/12/doge-cuts-screwworm/

“Sometime around 2023, the barrier at Panama failed”

And further text suggesting a fairly normal incursion in ‘21 that didn’t become a major issue until much later.

> and over zealous COVID lockdowns

“The disruption caused by COVID-19 seems to be partly to blame”

I love when people insert hyper-inflammatory bullshit because they have a stupid axe to grind.

There are like, 10 paragraphs of equally relevant contributors, but you picked out the two that make you angry and are pretending those are the “main causes”?

Come the fuck on.