The Inquiry

Flesh-eating parasitic flies have been found in the US state of Texas for the first time in decades. Known as the New World Screwworm, officials have now put plans in place to try and contain its spread. The fly feeds off warm-blooded animals, like cattle, dogs and horses, but if detected early enough, with treatment, the animals can make a full recovery. It can also infest humans, but human deaths are rare and it poses no food safety issues.
The New World Screwworm is not a new problem; it is considered endemic in South America and some parts of Central America, towards South America. But despite the United States declaring itself screwworm free in the 1960s, the country has since seen several outbreaks. Officials have been tracking this latest case since late 2024.
To date, the most widely used method to try and control the spread of the screwworm is the Sterile Insect Technique, whereby millions of flies are hatched and exposed to radiation, before they are released into the wild. And the idea here is that as the females only mate once in a lifetime, any eggs they lay will be unfertilised and will not hatch. There is currently only one facility hatching these flies in operation and there are not enough sterile flies being produced. In addition, there is a concern over a lack of knowledge among new veterinary recruits on how to deal with a problem that many may be experiencing for the first time.
So, on The Inquiry this week, we’re asking ‘Can the New World Screwworm be stopped?’
Contributors:
Grace VanHoy, veterinarian and professor, UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine, California, USA
Thomas Rath, author and assistant professor, History Department, University College London, UK
Dr Phillip Kaufman, professor and head of department of entomology, Texas A&M University, chair of the Texas A&M AgriLife New World Screwworm Task Force, USA
Rui Cardoso Pereira, head of insect pest control section, Joint FAO/IAEA Programme of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria
Presenter: Charmaine Cozier
Producer: Jill Collins
Researcher: Amelia Cox
Editor: Tom Bigwood
Technical Producer: Craig Boardman
Production Management: Phoebe Lomas and Liam Morrey
(Photo: New World Screwworm poster. Credit: Joel Angel Juarez/Getty Images)

This year, technology has more influence in officiating sports than ever before.
At the men's World Cup, the role of virtual assistant referee technology (VAR) has been extended to include two more on-pitch scenarios while in tennis, umpires use electric line calling systems (ELC) to make final decisions.
Both bits of kit aim to improve the accuracy. It’s become easier to consider match-defining moments through these tracking and review systems’ specialised cameras. But, this information takes human officials valuable time to analyse.
Football fans criticise VAR for this reason, saying it delays match momentum. Top ranking tennis players Aryna Sabalenka and Alexander Zverev have also complained as these systems are not yet infallible. If technology is as imperfect as a human referee or umpire and can interrupt the fan experience too, why do elite sports rely on it?
We speak to Carlo de Marchis, independent adviser in sports and media technology in Italy; Dr Otto Koblinger, former sports scientist, Munich Technical University, Germany and senior data manager, Saudi Pro League; Professor Odilon Roble, sport philosopher and psychoanalyst, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil and Matt Moore, associate dean, University of Kentucky’s college of social work, US.
Presenter: Tanya Beckett
Producer: Evie Yabsley
Researcher: Amelia Cox
Sound engineer: Nicky Edwards
Production co-ordinator: Phoebe Lomas and Liam Morrey
Editor: Tom Bigwood
(Photo: VAR check. Credit: Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

A new directive strives to narrow the 11% hourly wage gap between men and women in the EU.
Around the world, the gender pay gap has been shrinking as women gain access to higher education and better employment opportunities. Though varied hours, industries and care responsibilities make this inequality a difficult problem to tackle with one universal policy.
Member states have just passed their deadline to implement measures that will hold employers to account for pay disparities in the workplace so will pay transparency solve the persistent gap?
We are joined by Emma Duchini, assistant professor of economics, University of Essex, UK; Marianne Bertrand, professor of economics, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, US; Adamnesh Bogale, head of gender, African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET), Ghana and Marina Tverdostup, economist, Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, Austria.
Presenter: Charmaine Cozier
Producer: Evie Yabsley
Sound engineer: Toby James
Editor: Tom Bigwood
(Photo: A woman typing)

In May 2026, the World Health Organization declared an Ebola outbreak in western Africa a public health emergency of international concern. Within days, hundreds of cases had been recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo, raising fears that the virus could spread further across the region.
Ebola has been causing outbreaks for nearly 50 years, but despite advances in vaccines and treatments, the disease continues to return. But why is it so difficult to treat and contain?
This week's contributors include Syra Madad, infectious disease epidemiologist at the Harvard Belfer Centre, US; Hypolite Muhindo Mavoko, professor of tropical medicine at the University of Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo; Amanda Rojek, associate professor of health emergencies at the University of Oxford, UK and Julienne Anoko, risk communication and community engagement officer at the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, Kenya
Presenter: Tanya Beckett
Producer: Matt Toulson
Technical producer: Nicky Edwards
Editor: Tom Bigwood
(Photo: Ebola awareness banner in Democratic Republic of the Congo. Credit: Glordy Murhabazi/Getty Images)

In 2001, Portugal decriminalised the possession and use of all illicit drugs. It was a move designed to mitigate the country’s public health crisis, which at the time meant Portugal had one of the worst rates of overdose deaths in Europe, as well as the highest rate of HIV among drug users. Whilst drugs remained illegal, users did not receive a criminal record but were instead referred to rehabilitation and treatment programmes. It was an approach that proved so successful, that it has remained in place for a quarter of a century.
But just over 10 years after its introduction, Portugal’s drugs policy started to come under strain as the country’s economic crisis and subsequent austerity measures led to budget cuts for drug services. More recently the rising cost of living has diverted people’s attention from investment in this field. On top of this, the trafficking of cocaine and newer substances into the country along with changing demographics is putting decriminalisation under strain.
We are joined by Joana Teixeira, President of the Board of Directors, Institute for Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies (ICAD), Lisbon, Portugal; Luís Mendão, Director General, Grupo de Ativistas em Tratamentos (GAT), Lisbon, Portugal;
António Leitão da Silva, Chief of Police, Braga, Portugal and Keith Humphreys, Esther Ting Memorial professor of psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, California, USA.
Presenter: David Baker
Producer: Jill Collins
Technical producer: Toby James
Editor: Tom Bigwood
(Photo: Discarded syringes and drug paraphernalia. Credit: Andy Buchanan/AFP)