First of all allowed in Florida, to fight against Zika virus, the “GMO mosquitoes” of the British company Oxitec have just received the green light from the Dutch health authorities. The latter accepted a release of 15 million mosquitoes on the island of Saba, in the Netherlands Antilles.
The aim is to fight against diseases such as dengue fever, Zika or Chikungunya, transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito (the famous tiger mosquito) which represent a real public health problem on the island of Saba. In order to combat these diseases, Oxitec has genetically modified the mosquito in such a way that it can suppress local mosquito populations.
Negligible risks to human health
A risk assessment report just published by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment of the Netherlands. Among other things, this assessment looked at the effects on the food chain to determine if an important food source would disappear if the local mosquito population were to be eliminated. It also examined whether the accidental ingestion of genetically modified mosquitoes could affect human health.
The findings indicate that the potential release of mosquitoes on Saba is considered to be “causing negligible risks to human health and the environment”.
The fifteen million mosquitoes must be released over a period of twelve months. Such genetically modified mosquitoes have already been used in Brazil, the Cayman Islands or Panama.
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