KEY LARGO, FLA. (WSVN) - The company proposing the release of genetically modified mosquitoes to combat the Zika virus was in the Keys, Wednesday, to present the project to residents.
The British company Oxitec is eyeing Key Haven as the first test site in the U.S. for releasing the genetically modified mosquitoes. The company modifies the males of the mosquito species that carries Zika so that their offspring do not survive.
They presented their plan to the Key Largo Rotary Club, Wednesday, amidst opposition from some residents in the Keys.
“We’ve received regulatory approval from the FDA the CDC and the EPA to go ahead with the trial,” Keys Project Manager Dr. Derric Nimmo said.
But the project won’t go forward until Monroe County residents vote on a non-binding referendum in the November election.
While the plan faces some opposition, the chair of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control Board, Phil Goodman, said he supports the plan. “It’s got a tremendous amount of promise,” Goodman said.
Local business owner Kerry Cosme said the genetically modified mosquitoes could affect the unique environment of the Keys.
“You’re playing God in a sense,” Cosme said. “We have to be very careful, what we’re doing in our environment. It’s really precious.”
Other residents didn’t like the idea of living near the project’s first US trial.
“They’re saying you’re using us as guinea pigs, no,” Tom McDonald said.
The company said they expect a 90 percent reduction in the population of this mosquito species within three to six months of the release of about three million of the mosquitoes.
“We’ve shown this in Cayman, Panama and Brazil,” Nimmo said.
Mosquito Control said they won’t spend any more mosquitoes than they already are over the next two years, using what federal regulators have deemed safe to try out.
Goodman said that they will need to find some place to test the genetically modified mosquitoes, as it’s the best option for controlling the species.
“If we’re not allowed to do it there, we need a place to do it,” Goodman said. “This tool is probably the furthest developed of any new technologies to help control this mosquito.”
Copyright 2025 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.