Mayor Stoddard Led an Initiative to Lower Miami-Dade County’s Mosquito Population
Mosquitoes in Miami-Dade County have long been a problem for residents and visitors alike. The warm climate and high humidity of the area make it an ideal breeding ground for these pesky insects. Mosquitoes are more than just annoying, they can also be dangerous. Mosquitoes can spread diseases like West Nile virus, Zika virus, and St. Louis encephalitis.
Although mosquitos are a year-round annoyance in subtropical Miami, millions of bacterially-infected mosquitos flying through a suburban neighborhood were heralded as a breakthrough that helped remove more of the bugs that bring diseases like Zika.
In 2016, mayor of South Florida Philipp Stoddard worked with the Mosquito Control and Habitat Management Division of Miami-Dade County who released mosquitos infected with the Wolbachia bacteria found in nature to breed with wild female mosquitos. Although the bacteria are not harmful to humans, they prevented any offspring born from the marriage of lab-bred and wild female mosquitos from growing into adult mosquitos. This reduced the population of Aedes aegypti mosquitos, which thrive in suburban and urban settings and transmit diseases such as Zika, dengue, and chikungunya.
MosquitoNet is just one of the ways that former Mayor Stoddard has worked to make Miami-Dade county a safer and healthier place to live. His commitment to reducing the mosquito population is a great example of his dedication to the betterment of the community.