{"id":124352,"date":"2021-04-28T03:12:41","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T10:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theaegisalliance.com\/?p=124352"},"modified":"2026-09-01T05:23:06","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T12:23:06","slug":"mosquitoes-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaegisalliance.com\/fr\/2021\/04\/28\/moustiques-en-floride\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Keys Released Oxitec’s Genetically Modified Mosquitoes. The EPA Is Still Sitting on Commercial Use"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Aedes
Thousands of genetically modified mosquitoes began to be released in Florida in a coordinated effort to battle disease-spreading Aedes aegypti.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA \u2014<\/strong> Oxitec’s OX5034 male Aedes aegypti<\/em> mosquitoes were the first genetically modified mosquitoes the United States approved for open release. The EPA issued an Experimental Use Permit in April 2020 for Monroe County, Florida, and a smaller Harris County, Texas plot. The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District started putting just-add-water boxes in the Keys in 2021. Locals fought it. The boxes went out anyway.<\/p>\n

OX5034 males are engineered so female offspring die. Males do not bite. The pitch is population suppression of the mosquito that carries dengue, Zika, and yellow fever, without spraying the whole island. Three pilot seasons later, FKMCD and Oxitec (now branding the product Flyttr) said the males performed in the field. The release phase ended in summer 2024. Commercial use now sits with the EPA. The district’s own page<\/a> is blunt: it is up to the federal agency to decide whether this becomes a registered control product.<\/p>\n

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