The Zika Virus has been gaining a lot of attention in recent months. This virus is transmitted mainly through mosquitoes and is being spread through travel. The spread of this virus has reached Puerto Rico and is beginning to enter the U.S. through Florida. Florida has more cases of the Zika Virus than any other U.S. state, all of which were contracted while abroad. It is suspected that the number of cases of Zika Virus in Florida will increase over the summer.
One of the proposed solutions to fighting the Zika Virus is the genetically modified mosquito. These male mosquitoes are given DNA that contains lethal genes while they are still in eggs. Then they plan on releasing these modified male mosquitoes to mate with wild female mosquitoes. Male mosquitoes don’t bite, so releasing the males will ensure that these mosquitoes don’t help in the spread of the virus. The offspring that have the gene will not survive into adulthood. There have been field tests in Piracicaba and Brazil that have shown results of this decreasing the mosquito populations.
Florida residents have created a petition on change.org that opposes the release of these mosquitoes despite the U.S. Food and Drug Administration stating there is a low probably of adverse effects. The petition has over 167,000 signatures. The petition states that the residents are worried about the effects that these mosquitoes being released might have on the native bats as not many studies have been taken to see what would happen. They also claim there could be a chance that the risks may not be worth the reward.
This is because the genetically modified mosquitoes only include one type of mosquito that carry that virus and there could be a chance that the other type of mosquito will then thrive and take its place. They also make the point that one of the diseases that these mosquitoes carry, Dengue fever, has been under control in the Florida Keys for years. They are calling for third-party and peer-reviewed studies on the effectiveness of the technique to make sure of the effectiveness from other sources than the company that would be benefiting from the release of the mosquitoes.
The release of the mosquito could be a highly beneficial thing to help the stop of the Zika Virus from entering the U.S. farther. However, there is a chance that this could be a problem for the community within the Keys or not even help anything at all.
