Community Chat

[nun ya]

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@FUTURE wrote:

Disease carried through mosquitoes always frightens me, as they LOVE to bite me. If I were thinking of getting pregnant and was in an area presently affected (although it seems that region is about to spread!), I would absolutely rethink becoming pregnant right now. I've had a few pts with Guillain-Barre, and it is a frightening, sad disease. 

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I hate them too and they love me. It also frightens me because my elderly neighbor has standing water in her yard after it rains, and the other neighbors pump water there. To the point where last year I bought mosquito dunks to throw in there just to try to stop them from breeding. The side of my house would be covered in mosquitos every morning.

[Noel7]

I can't stand mosquitoes, either. 

We used to get one in the house every so often.  If I heard one in the bedroom at night, I couldn't even try to sleep until I tracked it down and killed it. 

[JustJazzmom]

If you are in an area where there are mosquitos, (sitting on a patio) you can put up a fan as they dislike moving air. 

[Lucky Charm]

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@Noel7 wrote:

I can't stand mosquitoes, either. 

We used to get one in the house every so often.  If I heard one in the bedroom at night, I couldn't even try to sleep until I tracked it down and killed it. 

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I'm the same way!!!  I will wake my husband up and have him help me. 

Last summer I used hair spray to kill one that we couldn't *catch*.

I think I read somewhere, if it buzzes in your ear (that annoying zzzezzzz zzzezzzz), then it's not the one that'll bite.  Don't know if I believe it! 

[esmeraldagooch]

Press release: Oxitec mosquito works to control Aedes aegypti in dengue hotspot

Chris Creese 2nd July 2015 News, Oxitec in the news

EMBARGOED UNTIL 2PM EDT, Thursday July 2nd 2015

Releases of the genetically engineered Oxitec mosquito, commonly known as ‘Friendly Aedes aegypti’, reduced the dengue mosquito population in an area of Juazeiro, Brazil by 95%, well below the modelled threshold for epidemic disease transmission.

Oxford, UK, 2nd July 2015

The journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases published today the results of a trial of Oxitec’s genetically engineered mosquitoes. The results showed that in Juazeiro city, northeast Brazil, the Oxitec mosquito successfully controlled theAedes aegypti mosquito that spreads dengue fever, chikungunya and zika virus, by reducing the target population by more than 90%. Popularly known in Brazil as “Friendly Aedes aegypti”, the Oxitec mosquito decreased the population of the dengue mosquito so low that it would not support epidemic disease transmission according to mathematical models1.

“The fact that the number of Aedes aegypti adults were reduced by 95% in the treatment area confirms that the Oxitec mosquito does what it is supposed to and that is to get rid of mosquitoes,” said Dr Andrew McKemey, Head of Field Operations at Oxitec.

“According to published mathematical models reviewed and recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) working group on dengue, it would also reduce the number of biting mosquitoes below the disease transmission threshold.

“The next step is to scale up to even larger studies and run mosquito control projects on an operational basis.”

The study in the Itaberaba neighborhood of Juazeiro city in Bahia State, Brazil was led by University of São Paulo and Moscamed, a social company leading in environmentally friendly pest control. The treatment area included a population of approximately 1800 people.

How it works

This method of control is species-specific – the Oxitec male mosquitoes are released to mate with the pest females and their offspring die because of a self-limiting gene before they can reproduce and before they can become transmitters of disease. The mosquitoes also carry a colour marker for monitoring, and the insects and their genes do not persist in the environment.

Mosquito control in Brazil

“This invasive mosquito and the diseases it carries is a real challenge. Aedes aegypti is developing resistance to insecticides and even when we remove breeding sites they continue to reproduce and transmit diseases because they live in areas that are difficult to treat. This is why we need new tools. We knew that the Oxitec mosquito was a promising tool, so we wanted to independently evaluate its effectiveness here in Brazil,” said Professor Margareth Capurro of São Paulo University.

Brazil is leading the way in applying new approaches to fight the dengue mosquito. Following approval of the Oxitec mosquito by the national biosafety group (CTNBio) for release throughout the country, the city of Piracicaba has started the world’s first municipal project of genetically engineered mosquito control.

Paper online http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0003864

1 Mathematical models www.ajtmh.org/content/62/1/11.long

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About Oxitec

Oxitec is a pioneer in using genetic engineering to control insect pests that spread disease and damage crops, and was founded in 2002 as a spinout from Oxford University (UK).

About the diseases spread by Aedes aegypti

Dengue, chikungunya and zika virus are debilitating diseases spread by the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito. Aedes aegypti is the primary vector and hence the priority for control. There is currently no vaccine or specific medication for these diseases. According to the WHO, the only way to combat dengue at present is to control the mosquitoes that spread the disease.

• Dengue causes severe flu-like symptoms, and in extreme cases can be fatal. There are nearly 400 million cases of dengue every year and its incidence is increasing rapidly around the world.

• Chikungunya can cause severe muscle pain and cramps, and over 10% of people can develop persistent arthralgia for a number of years after acute infection. The USA Centre for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that there have been more than one million cases in the Americas since 2013.

• Zika virus may cross-react with closely related viruses. This virus originated in Africa and has been spreading through Asia. This year it has spread into Brazil and the Caribbean.

[esmeraldagooch]

zika epicenter and release of GMO mosquito

[esmeraldagooch]

The particular strain of Oxitec GM mosquitoes, OX513A, are genetically altered so the vast majority of their offspring will die before they mature — though Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher published concerns in a report in September 2010 that a known survival rate of 3-4 percent warranted further study before the release of the GM insects. Her concerns, which were echoed by several other scientists both at the time and since, appear to have been ignored — though they should not have been.

Those genetically-modified mosquitoes work to control wild, potentially disease-carrying populations in a very specific manner. Only the male modified Aedes mosquitoes are supposed to be released into the wild — as they will mate with their unaltered female counterparts. Once offspring are produced, the modified, scientific facet is supposed to ‘kick in’ and kill that larvae before it reaches breeding age — if tetracycline is not present during its development. But there is a problem.

According to an unclassified document from the Trade and Agriculture Directorate Committee for Agriculture dated February 2015, Brazil is the third largest in “global antimicrobial consumption in food animal production” — meaning, Brazil is third in the world for its use of tetracycline in its food animals. As a study by the American Society of Agronomy, et. al., explained, “It is estimated that approximately 75% of antibiotics are not absorbed by animals and are excreted in waste.” One of the antibiotics (or antimicrobials) specifically named in that report for its environmental persistence is tetracycline.

In fact, as a confidential internal Oxitec document divulged in 2012, that survival rate could be as high as 15% — even with low levels of tetracycline present. “Even small amounts of tetracycline can repress” the engineered lethality. Indeed, that 15% survival rate was described by Oxitec:

[esmeraldagooch]

“After a lot of testing and comparing experimental design, it was found that [researchers] had used a cat food to feed the [OX513A] larvae and this cat food contained chicken. It is known that tetracycline is routinely used to prevent infections in chickens, especially in the cheap, mass produced, chicken used for animal food. The chicken is heat-treated before being used, but this does not remove all the tetracycline. This meant that a small amount of tetracycline was being added from the food to the larvae and repressing the [designed] lethal system.”

Even absent this tetracycline, as Steinbrecher explained, a “sub-population” of genetically-modified Aedes mosquitoes could theoretically develop and thrive, in theory, “capable of surviving and flourishing despite any further” releases of ‘pure’ GM mosquitoes which still have that gene intact. She added, “the effectiveness of the system also depends on the [genetically-designed] late onset of the lethality. If the time of onset is altered due to environmental conditions … then a 3-4% [survival rate] represents a much bigger problem…”

“An outbreak in the Western Hemisphere could give countries including the United States new reasons to try wiping out mosquitoes with genetic engineering.

“Yesterday, the Brazilian city of Piracicaba said it would expand the use of genetically modified mosquitoes …

“The GM mosquitoes were created by Oxitec, a British company recently purchased by Intrexon, a synthetic biology company based in Maryland. The company said it has released bugs in parts of Brazil and the Cayman Islands to battle dengue fever.

[Lucky Charm]

The use of pesticides is probably the worst thing they can do.  I know it's a bad situation, but pesticides are very bad for the human body.  Or any breathing creature.

[Snoopp]

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@Noel7 wrote:

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@PeterDM wrote:

So, basically this disease only has adverse effects on fertile women, right?  I mean if you're a guy or been through menopause, the worst that can happen is you get a fever, achey joints, and perhaps pinkeye, right?  

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@PeterDM

Peter, they aren't sure.  There has been a correlation with the more dangerous Guillain-Barre syndrome, but they can't say yet if it's cause and effect.

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I think they have no idea of the long term health risks associated with this.  I think Dr. Oz had someone on his show the other day that discussed this.