LATEST RESOURCES
PROJECT APPROVED!
On August 18th the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) Board of Commissioners approved the FKMCD-Oxitec Investigational Agreement for the release of Oxitec’s Friendly™ Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in 2021. This follows regulatory approvals for the project by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and seven State of Florida agencies, including the Department of Health. This project will be overseen by FKMCD, the EPA and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS). Independent evaluation of the project will be provided by the U.S. CDC, University of Florida, Monroe County Department of Health, and local leaders, forming a broad and diverse coalition to support this effort. Please also visit the jointly sponsored FKMCD-Oxitec Mosquito Project website keysmosquitoproject.com.
upcoming events
FKMCD and Oxitec Webinar Series Open to the Public: Informational Webinars Cover Range of Topics; Provide A Forum for Florida Keys Residents to Ask Questions
Please Join Us Each Month!
Human Health and Oxitec: The Safety of Oxitec Technology – coming in October!
Virtual Tour: Inside Oxitec Labs – coming in November!
Meet the team that produces mosquitoes for the project and see inside one of Oxitec’s production facilities in a virtual tour.
What’s in the Box?: How Oxitec’s Just-Add-Water Technology Helps Control the Aedes aegypti Population – coming in December!
Preparing for the FKMCD-Oxitec Pilot Project: Overview of Field Trial Design and Management – coming in January!
Roundtable Discussion: Controlling Aedes aegypti, the Vector of Dengue, Zika, Heartworm and Other Diseases – coming in February!
Featuring medical and veterinary doctors, members of the public health community, academics and FKMCD and Oxitec experts.
Community Partnerships: The Role Communities Play in Our Pilot Project – coming in March!
latest resources
We have winners! Thanks to all Keys residents who voted on their favorite label design for our just-add-water mosquito box. Geometric Sea Green received 34% of all votes cast and In Flight Sea Green received 21 % of all votes cast. These were the two winners of our 12 contenders.
Following the well-attended Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) -Oxitec Public Educational Webinar on 14 July, FKMCD and Oxitec continue to host webinars, providing multiple opportunities for Florida Keys residents to learn about very specific areas of Oxitec’s technology and the FKMCD-Oxitec pilot project.
Each of the 60-minute webinars covers one topic area in detail, starting with a presentation on the chosen topic followed by questions from attendees. The webinars are open to all.
FKMCD-Oxitec Public Educational Webinar #2: Oxitec’s Technology – From Lab to Field: How it Works and Why It’s Safe
Tuesday, 28 July, 5:00 p.m. ET
Event recording available here;
Event materials available here;
Event summary with questions asked and answered including links to external resources available here.
FKMCD-Oxitec Public Educational Webinar #3: Developing Partnerships with Communities
Tuesday, 4 August, 5:00 p.m. ET
Event recording available here;
Event materials available here;
Event summary with questions asked and answered including links to external resources available here.
FKMCD-Oxitec Public Educational Webinar #4: Oxitec’s Vector Control Performance - Past, Present and Future
Tuesday, 11 August, 5:00 p.m. ET
Event recording available here;
Event materials available here;
Event summary with questions asked and answered including links to external resources available here.
FKMCD-Oxitec Public Educational Webinar #5: Review 20 Years of Independent Assessment, Oversight and Validation
Monday, 17 August, 5:00 p.m. ET
Event recording available here;
Event materials available here;
Event summary with questions asked and answered including links to external resources available here.
FKMCD - Oxitec Public Educational Webinar #6: Environmental Health and Oxitec: Benefits for the Florida Keys’ Sensitive Ecosystem and Endangered Species
Wednesday, 30 September, 5:00 p.m. ET
Event recording available here;
Event materials available here;
Event summary with questions asked and answered including links to external resources coming soon.
Oxitec’s Collaboration in the Florida Keys
Oxitec has a long-standing partnership with the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) and is planning a collaborative pilot project using our Friendly™ Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes transmit dengue, Zika and other diseases. Our safe, non-biting male Friendly™ mosquitoes will be released in a small area to demonstrate their effectiveness controlling the wild Aedes aegypti.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave its approval in May 2020 for Oxitec to carry out pilot projects in Florida through spring 2022 to showcase this safe, environmentally sustainable technology. The EPA Federal Register Notice is available here. Documents issued by the EPA include:
Response to Comments: (Explanatory Memorandum) and (Response to Comments)
Reviews of Section G Field Protocol (26 March 2020) and (Addendum 30 April 2020)
In June of 2020 the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) authorized Oxitec’s project, including approvals from:
Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP)
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)
Bureau of Inspection and Incident Response (BIIR)
Florida Department of Health (DOH)
Bureau of Agricultural Environmental Laboratories (BAEL)
Bureau of Chemical Residue Laboratories (BCRL)
Bureau of Scientific Evaluation and Technical Assistance, Scientific Evaluation Section (SES)
In July of 2020 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced, through a Letter of Collaboration, their intent to evaluate the proposed project to inform their future guidance on mosquito control.
The FKMCD held a virtual Oxitec Workshop for their Board Tuesday, 23 June. All provided materials are available through this link. A Public Educational Webinar was held with the FKMCD Tuesday, 14 July, 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. ET. The materials presented during the webinar are available here, a recording of the event is available here and an event summary with questions asked and answered including links to external resources is available here.
In an FKMCD Board meeting on Tuesday, 21 July, each of the five Commissioners expressed support for Oxitec’s technology and this project, and determined that the final vote to approve the project would be postponed to 18 August, to give FKMCD and Oxitec time to consider how best to manage the pilot project in the context of the worsening COVID crisis. Given the impact the pandemic is having on Florida Keys residents, Oxitec’s team supported the FKMCD Board of Commissioners’ decision to postpone the vote. We worked with FKMCD to ensure our 2021-2022 project plan takes COVID into consideration. With growing locally transmitted dengue outbreaks in the Keys, our FKMCD-Oxitec collaboration remains an important priority and we used the time leading up to 18 August to continue our engagement efforts with the Florida Keys public and other stakeholders.
On Tuesday, 18 August the FKMCD Board approved the FKMCD-Oxitec Investigational Agreement. FKMCD and Oxitec will now begin final planning for the project, which will include decisions on timing and locations. Building on ten years of extensive public engagement and education, FKMCD and Oxitec will launch additional efforts with the local community and other interested parties as the project progresses.
A non-binding referendum in 2016 showed that Monroe County residents are overwhelmingly supportive of Oxitec’s technology, with 31 of 33 precincts voting in favor of the Oxitec mosquito project.
Before any trial, we engage local communities and provide answers to any questions residents may have.
We will continue to keep local communities fully informed, and also encourage residents wanting to learn more about the project to contact us at florida@oxitec.com or call us on +1 888 308 1859.
For media inquiries, call us on +1 202 792 3080 or email press@oxitec.com
FKMCD is also available to answer questions about this project.
Key Facts:
Oxitec mosquitoes are safe, non-toxic, non-biting and self-limiting;
Oxitec’s 2nd Generation technology adds a range of new features and benefits in addition to those delivered by its 1st Generation technology;
Oxitec’s mosquitoes do not pose a threat to humans or the environment, as confirmed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2016 and by the EPA in 2020;
More than one billion Oxitec mosquitoes have been produced for release worldwide, with no negative impacts;
More than 100 scientific studies and peer-reviewed papers have been published about Oxitec’s technology, a diverse cross-section of which can be found on Oxitec’s website;
Oxitec’s work receives exceptionally high levels of public acceptance and support in the communities where it has worked;
Oxitec’s field pilot projects will be small, designed to demonstrate their ability to combat wild-type female (biting) Aedes aegypti relative to untreated control areas, as well as other operational and performance-related features of the 2nd Generation mosquito;
No tetracycline will have been used with Oxitec’s mosquitoes deployed in Florida.
Aedes aegypti in Florida
Aedes aegypti are invasive mosquitoes, not native to the United States, which carry and spread harmful diseases such as dengue, Zika, yellow fever and chikungunya. In recent years, Florida has seen locally transmitted cases of both Zika and dengue.
Mosquito control authorities work hard to reduce the Aedes aegypti mosquito. However, this species is difficult to control with current tools available, so authorities are looking for novel, safe and effective ways to keep mosquito populations at low levels.
For more information about the Aedes aegypti mosquito, click here; and for a recently published study on the growing threat that Aedes aegypti is posing to a number of U.S. communities, please click here.
For more information on dengue in the U.S., click here.
