Floridians uncomfortable with use of genetically modified mosquitoes to limit spread of disease

“With the start of mosquito season here and all of the media coverage of Zika, public health officials are going to be faced with important decisions about mosquitoes and how to best protect citizens,” says Meghan McGinty, a recent Ph.D. recipient from the Bloomberg School and one of the researchers. “People will have objections and it is critical for them to be heard. Our research provides a starting point to understand how the community feels and to begin a dialogue about how to address mosquito-borne diseases.”

For the study, the researchers mailed a survey in July 2015 to all 456 households in the Key Haven community outside Key West; they received 89 responses. Residents were evenly split over whether they consider mosquitoes a nuisance, but two-thirds agreed there was a need to reduce the mosquito population. Women were more opposed to the genetically modified mosquitoes than men.

The most popular mosquito control method was draining standing water to reduce breeding, followed by treating standing water with larvicides designed to kill new mosquitoes before they hatch and spraying insecticides. The least popular was using genetically modified mosquitoes to reduce the population.

Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they either “oppose” or “strongly oppose” the use of genetically modified mosquitoes to combat the risk of disease. The most common objection was a concern over disturbing the local ecosystem by eliminating mosquitoes from the food chain. Respondents were also concerned that using genetically modified mosquitoes could lead to an increase in the use of other genetically modified products.

Since the survey was conducted before the extent of the Zika epidemic was widely known, respondents were only asked about their concerns about dengue and chikungunya (the area was hit by a dengue outbreak several years ago). Sixty-three percent said they were “a little worried” or “very worried” about becoming sick from one of those mosquito-borne illnesses, and most said they or someone they knew would contract one of the diseases.

Researcher Crystal Boddie, MPH, a DrPH candidate in the Bloomberg School’s Department of Health Policy and Management, who is also employed at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Center for Health Security in Baltimore, says that those who were most concerned about the risk of contracting one of the mosquito-borne illnesses were more likely to support the release of the new mosquitoes.

The researchers recognize that their sample size is small and that with the rising threat of Zika, opinions may have changed about the use of these genetically modified mosquitoes.

Still, Boddie says, “the survey provides a baseline of information about residents’ attitudes and concerns and can help health officials better educate the public about the risks and benefits of these genetically modified mosquitoes. Then we need to have an honest conversation about where this control method does – or does not – fit in.”

— Read more in Amesh Adalja et al., ““Genetically Modified (GM) Mosquito Use to Reduce Mosquito-Transmitted Disease in the US: A Community Opinion Survey,” PLOS Current Outbreaks (25 May 2016) (DOI: 10.1371/currents.outbreaks.1c39ec05a743d41ee39391ed0f2ed8d3)