The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced plans to drop millions of flies over Texas and Mexico, in an effort to quell the emergence of a flesh-eating maggot known as the New World screwworm.

The unusual operation is a critical part of a strategy to combat the spread of the flesh-eating screwworm fly, a pest that poses a serious threat to the beef industry, wildlife, and even household pets. The targeted release area focuses primarily on South Texas and the U.S.–Mexico border region.

The federal government is going to take millions of sterile flies and dump them on Texas in the hopes that they’ll kill off a species of insect known for laying its flesh-eating larvae in the wounds of warm-blooded animals.