By Zoila Palma: Residents of Metapa de Domínguez in Mexico’s southern Chiapas state took to the streets on Thursday, demanding the relocation of a sterile-fly plant after a persistent rotten-meat odor reportedly spread through surrounding neighborhoods and schools.
Protesters described the smell as overwhelming, saying it caused nausea and disrupted classes at nearby schools, Reuters report.
The complaints come less than four months after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins inaugurated the facility on June 27.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture invested $21 million toward the $51 million project, which is part of efforts to contain the New World screwworm outbreak.
The plant is expected eventually to produce 100 million sterile flies weekly to help suppress the parasite’s population.
The New World screwworm is a flesh-eating parasite whose larvae burrow into the living tissue of cattle and other warm-blooded animals and can cause death if untreated.
Mexico has recorded nearly 48,000 cases in the current outbreak, while the United States has reported 53.
The outbreak has also disrupted cross-border cattle trade, prompting Washington to impose a ban on Mexican cattle imports lasting more than a year.
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