Modified Mosquitoes Will Be Released In Florida To Reduce Disease

KEY WEST, FL — Around 2 million genetically modified mosquitoes will be released in the wild in Florida and California after Oxitec was given approval for the project by the Environmental Protection Agency, the company said in a release Tuesday. The mosquitoes are meant to reduce the spread of mosquito-borne diseases.

Pending permit applications in both states, the projects follow what the company describes as a successful pilot program held in the Florida Keys in 2021.

The Florida project will operate under the same partnership with the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District as the pilot, while the California project will be a collaboration with the Delta Mosquito and Vector Control District in Tulare County, the company said.

The modified mosquitoes don't bite, according to Oxitec, and are designed to control the disease-transmitting Aedes aegypti mosquito, colloquially known as the yellow fever mosquito, by producing infertile offspring. The genetically modified mosquitoes do not harm other insects in the ecosystem, according to the company.

Since being introduced to California in 2013, yellow fever mosquitoes have spread to 20 counties and have increased the risk of spreading several diseases including dengue, chikungunya and Zika in addition to yellow fever, according to Oxitec.

"Given the growing health threat this mosquito poses across the U.S., we’re working to make this technology available and accessible," Oxitec CEO Grey Frandsen said. "These pilot programs, wherein we can demonstrate the technology’s effectiveness in different climate settings, will play an important role in doing so. We look forward to getting to work this year."