Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes May Be Released In South Florida
Millions of genetically engineered mosquitoes could be released in the Florida Keys if researchers win approval to use the insects to limit two painful viral diseases: Dengue fever and chikungunya.
The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District is waiting to hear if the Food and Drug Administration will allow it to run the experiment in Key West.
The British company Oxitec modifies Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that spreads the two diseases. The mosquitoes are not exactly sterile. Instead, the modified males breed with normal females. The females lay eggs, but then the offspring die.
Mosquito controllers in Florida say they’re running out of other options because most approved insecticides are no longer effective against Aedes aegypti.
Some residents are concerned about being bitten by the genetically modified organisms, or what the impact would be on the environment. More than 380,000 people have signed an online petition against the program.
Only female mosquitoes bite. And only modified males are released, but there is a chance that some modified females could escape.
Dengue and chikungunya aren’t commonly transmitted in Georgia. When people here have one of them, it’s because they caught it somewhere else, explained Georgia Department of Public Health epidemiologist Amanda Feldpausch.
“Fortunately in Georgia, we have predominantly Aedes albopictus, which is not quite as good a carrier as Aedes aegypti,” she said.
Chikungunya first made it to the Caribbean in 2013. In 2014, 11 people contracted the virus in Florida.
There are other illnesses spread by mosquitos here, including West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis. Feldspausch said when someone here is sick with any vector-borne disease, the way to keep it from spreading, is to keep that person from being bitten by a mosquito.
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