The Florida Keys Mosquito Management District (FKMCD) will put a brand new mosquito management method to work this summer time when it releases Wolbachia-infected male, Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to decrease the inhabitants of that species inside three 20-acre places.
This method, developed by vendor MosquitoMate, was accepted for business use by the Environmental Safety Company in addition to the Florida Division of Agriculture and Shopper Providers. Wolbachia is a naturally occurring bacterium that impacts mosquito replica in some mosquito species together with the Aedes aegypti.
In early June, technicians will start releasing a restricted variety of Wolbachia-infected male mosquitoes in Key Largo, Plantation Key and Key Colony Seashore. Male mosquitoes don’t chew.
When the Wolbachia-infected males mate with native feminine Aedes aegypti, the ensuing eggs don’t hatch, decreasing the variety of grownup mosquitoes.
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes thrive in city areas, round people and are the first provider of a number of illnesses together with yellow fever, dengue fever and Zika.
The Wolbachia males will probably be ready and shipped from a facility in Kentucky; learn extra at mosquitomate.com
“Defending public well being is among the important targets of our district, which is why the event of those novel applied sciences is so necessary,” stated Andrea Leal, government director.
FKMCD has beforehand examined and labored with different ‘novel’ management measures that use the mosquito itself as a mode of management. In 2022, FKMCD and Oxitec launched male Aedes aegypti that have been genetically manipulated to cut back offspring. The Oxitec releases and trial led to 2024. The EPA remains to be evaluating the Oxitec product for potential registration and eventual expanded use.