Aerial pesticide spraying has not eradicated the Zika virus in Miami Beach so far,…[so] the city is resorting to less conventional methods: Officials have now asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to give emergency permission for Miami Beach to release genetically modified mosquitoes to kill off the Zika-carrying bugs.
City Manager Jimmy Morales writes in a new letter to the Miami Beach Commission that the city has filed a request with the feds to “release…genetically engineered mosquito in Miami Beach.” So far, though, the FDA isn’t allowing the request.
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Many scientists believe the GMO bugs are environmentally safe and could eradicate the Aedes aegypti, thus stopping tropical diseases like dengue fever, the chikungunya virus, and Zika.
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Miami’s main tool to fight Zika—pesticides—have also become a hot-button issue. Though the CDC and county say naled, the main pesticide being used, is safe,…EU regulators say naled poses an “unnacceptible risk” to human health.
If environmentalists fight the Beach’s push for GMO mosquitoes as hard as they’ve fought naled, they may be stuck with Zika permanently.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Miami Beach Asks FDA for Emergency Permission to Release Anti-Zika GMO Mosquitoes
