Virus-Fighting Bugs

Is there such a thing as a “good” mosquito? It seems hard to believe, but you might want to put away your bug swatter if you encounter any of the pests called into duty recently by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA has granted MosquitoMate, a Kentucky company, permission to release thousands of lab-grown male Asian tiger mosquitoes in 20 states, including California and New York. Why? Female Asian tiger mosquitoes are among the species that can transmit serious viruses, including Zika and yellow fever, to humans. The male bugs—which don’t bite—were infected with a bacterium that prevents mosquito eggs from hatching. When they mate with wild female Asian tiger mosquitoes—who mate only once during their 3-week life span—they essentially sterilize them, reducing the population. Other insects, including less-dangerous types of mosquitoes, aren’t harmed by the practice. “Mosquitoes are the deadliest animals in the world,” says Jessica Fox, professor of biology at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. “The diseases they spread kill more than one million people worldwide every year,” mostly in third-world countries, “so this will have major global health consequences if it works well.”