Releasing sterilized flies can crash a local population of flesh-eating screwworms. But the US currently has limited capacity to produce them.

If confirmed, it would be the fly's first breach of the US-Mexico border.

The Department of Agriculture flagged a possible case of New World Screwworm or NWS in South Texas, sparking fears about the flesh-eating fly coming to the US.

The flesh-eating larvae has threatened the nation's cattle industry