Minister of Health, Dr Kenneth Darroux is reporting that Dominica will not be engaging in the use of genetically-modified mosquitoes to combat the Aedes Egypti mosquito, the main carrier of the Zika virus.
“This is a proposal which has been on the table for quite a few years,” he at a press conference recently. “I want to make it clear that the OECS Ministers of Health and the Ministry of Health in Dominica have stated categorically that we are not going to engage in any discussion unless there is scientific proof that this is safe.”
He noted that releasing genetically-modified material into the environment might help combat the Aedes Egypti but questions what happens to the modified material.
“It will get into the water and food supply etc. We need much more concrete information before we can engage these companies which are lobbying to use this method,” Darroux said.
Recently, in a statement, the World Health Organization (WHO) said releasing genetically modified mosquitos could be deployed to hamper the spread of the Zika virus.
However, it said more research is needed to evaluate such technique.
“For genetically modified mosquitoes, the WHO Advisory Group has recommended further field trials and risk assessment to evaluate the impact of this new tool on disease transmission,” the statement said.
Last year genetically modified mosquitos were released in Brazil to combat Dengue.
Genetically modified mosquitoes generally live for three days and their offsprings never develop past the larval stage.(Dominica News Online)
