The Food and Drug Administration on Friday gave final
approval to a proposal to release genetically modified mosquitoes just outside
Key West in an effort to reduce outbreaks of transmittable viruses, including
Zika.
The proposed trial would not have significant impact on the
environment, the agency said.
The FDA’s final decision came nearly five months after it
had given preliminary approval to the plan and on the same week that first ever
nontravel-related Zika outbreak in the U.S. was confirmed in the Miami area.
Nevertheless, it will likely be at least December before the
genetically modified mosquitoes are deployed, said Beth Ranson, spokeswoman for
the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, which would run the trial program.
Due to substantial public debate in the Key West area over
the environmental safety of the release, the mosquito district board has called
for a nonbinding referendum on the plan, which isn’t scheduled until Election
Day on Nov. 8.
Only after that, said Ranson, does the board intend to make
a final decision on whether to move forward with the release.
The trial involves the release of genetically modified Aedes
aegypti mosquitoes, which are carriers of the Zika, dengue fever and
chikungunya viruses. The mosquitoes would produce sterile offspring, thereby
reducing the Aedes aegypti population.
The British firm Oxitec would run the trial for the Keys
mosquito district.
This week, the Florida Department of Health confirmed 15
locally transmitted cases of Zika, all within a square mile of the Wynwood
neighborhood just north of downtown Miami.
The outbreak caused the Centers for Disease Control and
Protection to issue an unprecedented domestic travel advisory for the
neighborhood.