Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
The push to educate Monroe County voters about genetically modified mosquitoes has begun.
The Florida Keys Safety Alliance this week launched its election awareness campaign. The campaign is meant to educate Monroe County voters who will be asked to approve a non-binding referendum allowing the use of genetically modified mosquitoes.
The United States Food and Drug Administration in August published its final finding that releasing modified mosquitoes into the wild would cause no significant impact to the environment. The finding marked the final regulatory hurdle Oxitec needed to overcome before it could begin a trial in Key Haven, a community north of Key West.
The firm has used its genetically modified mosquitoes in Brazil, the Cayman Islands, and Panama for several years. The mosquitoes have served as an effective mosquito control tool, reducing the population and slowing the spread of mosquito-borne diseases.
Oxitec has been on the ground in the Florida Keys for a few years. It built a facility in Marathon, and representatives have been involved in community outreach. But there are still concerns.
Those concerns convinced the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District to put a non-binding referendum on the November ballot to gauge support.
The Florida Keys Safety Alliance was set up to speak to residents one-on-one, and will share information about the company’s technology.
The push in the Keys comes as House Speaker Designate Richard Corcoran and Minority Leader Janet Cruz are asking the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to declare a public health emergency and grant an emergency use authorization to make the technology immediately available to help combat the spread of Zika.
Earlier this week, Corcoran said lawmakers hope obtaining the authorization “will be quick and enable our public health officials to deploy these solutions before more Floridians are infected.”
“It’s time the federal government listened and worked more closely with their local partners. All we are asking for is the flexibility to confront a growing public health emergency on the front lines of this outbreak. All local governments should be given access to any available tool in a public health crisis,” said Cruz in a statement.
