Stop the SWARM Act of 2025

The Stop the SWARM Act of 2025 is a reporting bill that directs the Secretary of Agriculture to submit a 30-day after-enactment report to Congress on the United States’ readiness and response to the New World screwworm. The report, focused on APHIS (the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service), must examine domestic preparedness, including the potential construction of a domestic sterile-flies facility if a threat of an outbreak arises, and partnerships with states and industry to support such preparedness. It also requires analysis of sterile fly production technology and other eradication tools, and an evaluation of the benefits and barriers—including timelines and costs—of enhancing domestic sterile fly production versus relying on international production. The bill does not authorize funding or create new programs by itself; rather, it seeks to inform policy decisions and potential future actions by Congress and the administration. The New World screwworm is a parasitic fly whose larvae can infest wounds in warm-blooded animals. The bill emphasizes domestic readiness and tools to eradicate or suppress outbreaks, signaling a possible shift toward widening domestic production capacity and partnerships to improve national biosecurity and livestock health in the event of a screwworm threat.