To combat disease-spreading mosquitoes in the Keys, leaders vote to unleash lab bugs
Florida Keys officials have voted to allow the experimental release of millions of genetically modified mosquitoes into a yet-to-be-decided area of the island chain.
The trial’s aim is to significantly reduce or eliminate the local population of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which are known to spread deadly diseases like Zika, chikungunya and dengue fever.
The five member board of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District voted 4-1 during an online meeting Tuesday to allow international biotechnology company Oxitec to release the bugs.
The vote comes as the Upper Keys deals with an outbreak of dengue that has impacted primarily the Key Largo area. Forty-seven people have been infected so far this year, all of whom have recovered, according to state health officials.
How will the technology work?
Boxes containing millions of male genetically altered eggs will be placed somewhere in the Keys. Water is added, and the male bugs will fly among the local population of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and mate with the females.
A “death mechanism” designed into the lab-created mosquitoes is meant to ensure no viable offspring will result from the mating, according to Oxitec.
After a period of time, Oxitec says the local Aedes aegypti population will either be eradicated or greatly reduced.
It is scheduled to begin some time in 2021. State and federal regulators approved the plan earlier this year.
But the plan is highly controversial and faces significant opposition in the Keys and among environmental groups nationally and internationally.
About 20 people spoke out against the trial during Tuesday’s meeting.
“You have no idea what that will do,” said Barry Wray, director of the Florida Keys Environmental Coalition.
Jack Stein Grove, a marine biologist who lives in the Upper Keys community of Tavernier, said not enough scrutiny has been applied to the technology to prevent unintended environmental and health consequences.
“There is no empirical scientific data to show this experiment is safe,” he said.
John Timura, a local business owner and backcountry angler, accused the board of using the public’s focus on the COVID-19 pandemic to approve the program.
“It seems like you’re taking advantage of a pandemic to further your agenda,” Timura said. “You’re voting to introduce an invasive species into our environment without knowing the outcome.”
Others spoke in favor of Oxitec, including some local doctors who said officials should be doing all they can to combat mosquito-borne illnesses.
Susan May, a Key Largo physician, said many people speaking out against the idea do not understand what’s at stake.
“Their interpretation of scientific literature may be lacking,” May said.
The vote was supposed to happen last month, but the board delayed it because cases of COVID-19 were spiking in the Keys, and members said constituents deserved more time to consider it and do their own research.
Mosquito Board Commissioner Brandon Pinder, the only “no” vote, said cases are still too high for him to give his approval.
“I don’t know that this is the right time or right measure for it,” he told his colleagues.
But the other commissioners disagreed. Commissioner Stanley Zuba, a pediatrician, said most of his constituents wanted to see the trial play out. He accused those campaigning against Oxitec of having the same rationale as those spreading misinformation about childhood vaccines.
“Unfortunately, many people died as a result of this misinformation,” Zuba said.
Zuba also disagreed with Pinder that COVID-19 cases were still too high to move on with the vote.
“We’re not seeing nearly as many patients. ... That’s what the difference is,” he said.
Commissioner Jill Cranny-Gage said the larvaecide and insecticide the district uses is becoming less effective against Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, and technology like Oxitec’s may be the only option to kill the invasive bugs in large numbers.
“The science is there. This is something Monroe County needs,” Cranny-Gage said. “We’re trying everything in our power, and we’re running out of options.”
Commissioner Phil Goodman cited the dengue outbreak as a major reason for green-lighting the project.
“South Florida is the undisputed hot spot for mosquito-borne illnesses in the United States,” he said. “The CDC is telling us that this threat is going to increase.”
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
