Baller Alert
  • Home
    • News
    • Entertainment
    • The Baller Alert Show
    • Baller Alert Lists
    • Baller Alert Exclusives
    • Let Me Liv
    • Ballerific Music
    • That’s Baller
    • Fashion
    • Metaverse
    • Tech
    • Lifestyle
    • Sports
    • Op-Ed
    • Travel
    • Health
  • EVENTS
  • Videos
  • Shop
  • About
  • Political News
  • en español
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
    • News
    • Entertainment
    • The Baller Alert Show
    • Baller Alert Lists
    • Baller Alert Exclusives
    • Let Me Liv
    • Ballerific Music
    • That’s Baller
    • Fashion
    • Metaverse
    • Tech
    • Lifestyle
    • Sports
    • Op-Ed
    • Travel
    • Health
  • EVENTS
  • Videos
  • Shop
  • About
  • Political News
  • en español
No Result
View All Result
Baller Alert
No Result
View All Result

Genetically Modified Mosquitoes To Be Released In the Florida Keys To Combat Insect-Borne Viruses

by RaquelHarris
April 19, 2021
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Jamaica Declares Dengue Fever Outbreak, With More Than 500 Suspected and Confirmed Cases

istock

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The first genetically modified mosquitoes are set to be released in the Florida Keys.

According to Fox News, the U.K.-based biotechnology company Oxitec has partnered with the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District to produce a set of genetically modified mosquitoes that would help combat insect-borne viruses Zika, Dengue fever and Malaria. The news outlet reports that the disease-spreading typically comes from female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in the region.

The genetically modified mosquitoes are males, which don’t bite. They will be released in small areas in a select number of neighborhoods between mile markers 10 and 93 in the Keys, writes Fox News reporter Julia Musto.

Oxitec Head of Regulator Affairs Dr. Nathan Rose said he hopes the project will be successful in passing a “self-limiting” gene from its genetically modified males to their female partners. If it does, it will stop new offspring from maturing into adulthood and lower the insects’ population. On Friday, Rose said that the mosquito-borne disease in the U.S. is “actually becoming a problem.”

Back in Summer 2016, the Zika virus broke out in the Keys; the area also saw a Dengue fever breakout as well. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 29 people within a 6-block prompted the need for an aerial spray to control the mosquitoes. Between 2010 and 2020, there have been more than 7,300 Dengue cases reported. However, most cases are contracted outside of the States.

“So, mosquito-borne disease is a thing in the U.S., and it’s likely to get worse in the future as a result of climate change [and] as these mosquitoes kind of move farther and farther north from the Gulf Coast into more and more of the continental U.S.,” Rose told Fox News. “So, the diseases are a big problem because these particular diseases don’t have any effective vaccines or medications to treat them [and] the only way to control them is actually to control the mosquitoes that spread them…”

Mosquito
istock

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Discover more from Baller Alert

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Related Posts

ICE Can Now Deport You to a Whole New Country With Just Six Hours’ Warning
News

ICE Can Now Deport You to a Whole New Country With Just Six Hours’ Warning

July 13, 2025

The Trump administration’s hardline immigration stance is making a comeback, and this time, it’s moving at lightning speed. A newly...

Panera Bread Settles Lawsuits After Charged Lemonade Blamed for Deaths and Heart Damage
News

Panera Bread Settles Lawsuits After Charged Lemonade Blamed for Deaths and Heart Damage

July 13, 2025

Panera Bread has settled every remaining lawsuit tied to its now-discontinued Charged Lemonade beverage, following intense scrutiny after multiple people...

Federal Judge Strikes Down Biden-Era Rule That Wiped Medical Debt From Credit Reports
News

Federal Judge Strikes Down Biden-Era Rule That Wiped Medical Debt From Credit Reports

July 13, 2025

A federal judge in Texas has struck down a Biden-era policy that aimed to erase medical debt from Americans’ credit...

Palestinian Activist Mahmoud Khalil Says Trump Admin Tried to Make an Example of Him After ICE Detention
News

Palestinian Activist Mahmoud Khalil Says Trump Admin Tried to Make an Example of Him After ICE Detention

July 13, 2025

Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and former Columbia University student, is speaking out after being held in U.S. immigration detention...

Next Post
L.A. County Votes To Ban Homeless Encampments From Being Set Up Near Schools And Daycares

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti To Allocate Nearly $1 Billion For Homelessness Crisis

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

Baller News

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

* indicates required

Follow Us

Subscribe to Blog

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

© Copyright 2024, Baller Alert Inc. All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
    • News
    • Entertainment
    • The Baller Alert Show
    • Baller Alert Lists
    • Baller Alert Exclusives
    • Let Me Liv
    • Ballerific Music
    • That’s Baller
    • Fashion
    • Metaverse
    • Tech
    • Lifestyle
    • Sports
    • Op-Ed
    • Travel
    • Health
  • EVENTS
  • Videos
  • Shop
  • About
  • Political News
  • en español
%d