Florida releases genetically modified mosquitoes in hopes to reduce spread of disease

A handbook is seen at Florida Keys Mosquito Control District headquarters, in Marathon, Florida, U.S. May 4, 2021. REUTERS/Marco BelloMARATHON: Genetically modified mosquitoes have been released for the first time in the United States, taking flight in the Florida Keys in a pilot program intended to reduce the spread of deadly diseases such as dengue, yellow fever and the Zika virus.

A half-dozen boxes containing the OX5034 mosquito created by Oxitec have been deployed in the Florida Keys, an archipelago stretching 120 miles off the southern tip of the state. The company says similar projects have had over a 90 per cent success rate in Brazil, Panama, the Cayman Islands and Malaysia.

A woman uses a leaf to look for mosquito larvae in Big Pine Key, near Marathon, Florida, U.S. May 4, 2021. REUTERS/Marco Bello "We are seeing resistance in some of our current control methods, which has made our job at Mosquito Control that much harder," said Leal at FKMCD headquarters in Marathon, Florida.

He says it was haphazard and leaves too many questions unanswered."You're going to risk our community, you're going to ask the people in our community to be sacrificial lambs, really."

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