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About 600,000 mosquitoes are being released across the Washington DC area this summer to help reduce local mosquito populations. Only male mosquitoes – infected with the naturally occurring bacteria Wolbachia – are released. They don’t bite humans, and the bacteria they carry prevents any eggs produced after mating from hatching.
Bee Safe Mosquito Control is the first business in the US to offer this form of pest control directly to residents. Historically, only local government mosquito control districts, public health agencies, or research partnerships have done so.
But the method is now gaining popularity, with Alphabet, Google’s parent company, seeking approval to release up to 64 million Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes in California and Florida. The effort comes as climate change creates more favourable conditions for mosquitoes to survive and reproduce, increasing concerns about the spread of mosquito-borne diseases.
Video by Mabel Pickering