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RESOLUTION NO. __ ~_
A Resolution accepting the offer by Miami-Dade County to
conduct field tests in South Miami of a novel and safe method for
controlling the mosquito species that carries Zika.
/0
WHEREAS, the City Commission desires to protect its citizens from mosquito-borne
'disease; and
WHEREAS, the mosquito borne viruses Zika, Dengue, and Chikungunya have been
transmitted by mosquito bites in Miami-Dade County; and
WHEREAS, these diseases are transmitted by the West African mosquito species Aedes
aegypti that is particularly common in South Miami; and
WHEREAS, the population of Aedes aegypti in Miami-Dade County has evolved
resistance to many insecticides, including the ones most commonly used to control mosquitoes;
and
WHEREAS, a novel and safe method of mosquito control the release of non-biting male
mosquitoes that carry Wolbachia pipientis, a bacterium that resides only inside the cells of
mosquitoes; and
WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County has offered to pay for the releases in South Miami and
conduct follow-up studies in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) at no cost
to the City of South Miami; and
WHEREAS, experts at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine and Florida
International University's Dept. of Biological Sciences have reviewed the County's proposal and
recommend, with no reservations, that South Miami accept the County's offer; and
WHEREAS, the mosquito season is beginning, Zika is expected to recur in Miami-Dade
County this summer, and we have no time to waste.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED· BY THE MAYOR AND CITY
COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA, THAT:
Section 1. The City Commission hereby grants Miami-Dade County permission to
contract for field releases of non-biting male mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia pipientis, and to
conduct field studies inside the City limits of South Miami in 2017 -2019.
Section 2.
notification.
This agreement can be cancelled by either party at any time with written
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Section 3. If any section clause, sentence, or phrase of this resolution is for any
reason held invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, the holding shall not
affect the validity of the remaining portions of this resolution.
Section 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this __ th_day of _____ , 2017.
ATTEST:
CITY CLERK
READ AND APPROVED AS TO FORM,
LANGUAGE, LEGALITY,
AND EXECUTION THEREOF:
CITY ATTORNEY
APPROVED:
MAYOR
COMMISSION VOTE
Mayor Stoddard:
Vice Mayor Welsh:
Commissioner Edmond:
Commissioner Harris:
Commissioner Liebman:
Page 2 of2
THE CITY OF PLEASANT LIVING
Office of the Mayor
10 May 2017
To: Members ofthe City Commission and City Manager Steven Alexander
From: Philip K.. Stoddard, Ph.D., Mayor
Re: Miami-Dade County offer to test mosquito control with a novel and safe method
Miami -Dade County has asked whether South Miami would host the initial 2017-18 field
trials of a recently developed method for suppressing populations of Aedes aegypti, the
mosquito species that cal) carry and transmit the Zika virus.
The proposed method involves the release of non-biting male mosquitoes that mate with
the local females, but are rendered reproductively incompatible by a symbiotic bacterium,
Wolbachia pipientis, residing inside their cells. The resulting eggs fail to hatch, and the
mosquito population is reduced. The method is biologically safe. Male mosquitoes
subsist on flower nectar and do not bite people or other animals. Wolbachia pipientis
resides only in the cells of mosquitoes and cannot infect humans or other animals. No
transgenic methods are involved.
Under this plan, Miami-Dade County would pay for the releases of non-biting, male
mosquitoes with Wolbachiaand County staff would collect field data to determine the
efficacy ofthis method for reducing the local populations of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
I sent the County's proposal to two colleagues for their review. Dr. John Beier, is Chief
of the Division of Environment & Public Health in the Department of Public Health
Sciences at University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Beier is an expert on
the control of mosquito-borne disease and serves as Editor ofthe preeminent scientific
journal on disease and public health in the tropics and subtropics. Dr. Matt DeGennaro
works in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida International University and
studies the genetic attraction ofthe Aedes aegypti mosquito to humans. Dr. DeGennaro is
funded by the Centers for Disease Control to develop methods for controlling Zika in
Miami. Both scientists are working with me on a project funded by the Rockefeller
Foundation to eliminate Zika from Miami-Dade County. Both Dr. Beier and Dr.
DeGennaro have enthusiastically recommend that South Miami steps up to become the
first municipality in Miami-Dade County to conduct field trials to determine whether this
this safe method of mosquito control can effectively reduce their populations to a level
that cannot transmit disease.
I concur with the assessment of these experts. This offer presents only benefits to the
residents of South Miami and has the potential to save lives with no downside to our
residents. I strongly recommend that South Miami accepts the County's generous offer.
City of South Miami 16130 Sunset Drive 1 South Miami, FL 33143-5093
305.663.6338 1 southmiamifl.gov
Altered Mosquitoes Quietly Tested in the U.S. -MIT Technology Review
f
Rewriting Life
Altered
Mosquitoes
Quietly Tested in
the U.S.
Bacteria-laden mosquitoes
produce offspring that die
quickly. China and the U.S. are
releasing millions into the wild.
by Antonio Regalado March 17, 2016
Genetically modified mosquitoes are all
the rage these days. Tests are under
way in Brazil to see if they can help
fight off dengue fever and Zika virus,
and a trial could soon start in Florida if
opponents don't stop it.
What fewer people know is that there's
a different kind of altered mosquito-
.. one that doesn't carry the "genetically
modified" label-that's already being
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601059/altered-mosquitoes-quietly-tested-in-the-us/
·5/9/17, 9:46 PM
Page 1 of 10
Altered Mosquitoes Quietly Tested in the u.s. -MIT Technology Review
tested out in the open in the u.s. and
China.
These insects carry a type of bacteria,
Wolbachia, that effectively renders
them sterile. Release enough of them
(usually millions, and usually males,
because they don't bite) and the wild
population can dwindle. Think of it as
birth control for bugs.
In the U.S., the insects are being
developed by a Kentucky startup called
Mosquito Mate, which has already
released them in Los Angeles and has
trials planned this summer in New
York, Florida, and Kentucky.
A similar technology is also being used
in China, where researchers now
operate what may be the world's largest
mosquito factory. As of last year, four
production units at the factory totaling
38,000 square feet were able to breed
and release over a million mosquitoes a
week, according to Zhiyong Xi of
Michigan State University, who is
involved in the project.
h ttps: Ilwww.technologyreview.com/s 160 1 0 59/a I te red -mosq u i toe s -q u ietl y -te sted -i n-the -u sl
5/9/17, 9:46 PM
Page 2 of 10
Altered Mosquitoes Quietly Tested in the u.s. -MIT Technology Review
A tiger mosquito.
Both of these efforts target the Asian
tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, an
aggressive bug that's been expanding
its territory and which can transmit
dengue fever. The mosquito is blamed
for an outbreak of dengue in Hawaii
that caused health officials to declare a
state of emergency in February. It's also
spreading dengue around Guangzhou,
China.
Stephen Dobson, Mosquito Mate's
president and also a professor of
entomology at the University of
Kentucky, says that in the continental
U.S. the bugs are being targeted mostly
because they are "a nuisance:'
Albopictus are known to spread animal
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601059/altered-mosquitoes-quietly-tested-in-the-us/
5/9/17, 9:46 PM
Page 3 of 10
Altered Mosquitoes Quietly Tested in the U.S. -MIT Technology Review
diseases, like dog heartworm and
equine encephalitis, and there's a risk
they could spread other viruses, like
Zika, whose recent emergence as a
problem in the Americas has put a
spotlight on new mosquito-control
techniques.
On March 11, for instance, the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration moved
a step closer to allowing. genetically
modified mosquitoes developed by the
company Oxitec to be tested in Florida.
Just like the Wolbachia-carrying bugs,
genetically modified mosquitoes also
waste females' time by producing
offspring that die quickly.
The Oxitec insects are currently being
used to protect part of one city in
Brazil and have gotten lots of attention.
By contrast, Mosquito Mate's bugs have
been released with hardly any public
comment because they don't have
altered DNA. Instead, they're regulated
by the Environmental Protection
Agency as "biopesticides:' says Dobson.
He said the company has an
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601059/altered-mosquitoes-quietly-tested-in-the-us/
5/9/17, 9:46 PM
Page 4 of 10
Altered Mosquitoes Quietly Tested in the U.S. -MIT Technology Review
experimental permit from the EPA to
try the bugs, though they are not yet
for sale.
"If you can do the same thing without
saying GMO, it's better;' says Guy
Reeves, a molecular biologist at the
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary
Biology, in Germany. "These guys got
regulatory approval in six months,
whereas the regulators sat on Oxitec's
application for three years."
In the projects in China and the U.S.,
males get infected with a different
version of the bacteria than wild
females have. That creates an
incompatibility that makes their
copulation fruitless.
Any tactic using sterile insects needs to
involve the release of a lot of males-
typically, several times more than the
number of nl0squitoes in nature. It
quickly adds up to millions of bugs.
Dobson says Mosquito Mate can make
a million a week right now, and could
easily increase the number.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601059/altered-mosquitoes-quietly-tested-in-the-us/
5/9/17, 9:46 PM
Page 5 of 10
Altered Mosquitoes Quietly Tested in the U.S. -MIT Technology Review
These Wolbachia mosquitoes shouldn't
be confused with another kind that's
been backed by the Gates Foundation
and is being tested in Colombia and
other countries. In that case, Aedes
aegypti mosquitoes are getting infected
with a different strain of the bacteria
that doesn't sterilize them, but instead
makes it so that they can't transmit
dengue or Zika anymore. .
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