Thank you for this very well-informed reply. You know far more about local Hawaiian politics than I do, so I will defer to your judgement about the makeup of Birds, Not Mosquitoes.
With regard to the proposed IIT, my understanding is that both avian malaria and the southern house mosquito are invasive species that were artificially introd…
Thank you for this very well-informed reply. You know far more about local Hawaiian politics than I do, so I will defer to your judgement about the makeup of Birds, Not Mosquitoes.
With regard to the proposed IIT, my understanding is that both avian malaria and the southern house mosquito are invasive species that were artificially introduced to the islands by colonists. It’s also my understanding that the only mosquitos that have been approved to be released by the EPA (and biologically the only species that would make sense, since by definition different species can’t really mate) are more southern house mosquitos taken from nearby Palmyra Atoll. So it wouldn’t be a situation where a novel mosquito is being introduced - it’s simply adding more of what is already there. And because of the QC standards for manufacturing mosquitos - my guess is that you would be thousands of times more likely to get some human pathogen from a regular wild mosquito than a lab-grown one.
I thought your reference to Wolbachia potentially enhancing pathogen transmission was interesting, but since all of these native species are about to go extinct anyway, I’m guessing hypothetical concerns about avian malaria infection being enhanced are not applicable here.
Mahalo for your response. The Application for Section 18 FIFRA Emergency Exemption for use of the lab-altered mosquitoes ("DQB Males") https://hawaiiunites.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/EPA-HQ-OPP-2022-0896-0002_content.pdf specifies that the "DQB line of mosquitoes was developed through transfection of Wolbachia pipientis wAlbB isolated from Ae. albopictus KLP strain mosquitoes originating from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia into Culex quinquefasciatus Palmyra strain mosquitoes originating from Palmyra Atoll." These are foreign organisms.
This mosquito release plan has not been sufficiently studied as required for a project of this scope and magnitude that has potential significant impacts to the health of our island's people, wildlife, and 'āina. We have taken state agencies to court to seek a ruling that an environmental impact statement be completed, per the Hawai'i Environmental Policy Act (HEPA).
In the words of tropical disease and vector expert Dr. Lorrin Pang (expert witness in our case), "It is not only what ‘might’ happen, but quantitatively how likely or unlikely might it happen – both the benefits and the side effects." There's no way of answering this question without doing the comprehensive studies needed.
Thank you for this very well-informed reply. You know far more about local Hawaiian politics than I do, so I will defer to your judgement about the makeup of Birds, Not Mosquitoes.
With regard to the proposed IIT, my understanding is that both avian malaria and the southern house mosquito are invasive species that were artificially introduced to the islands by colonists. It’s also my understanding that the only mosquitos that have been approved to be released by the EPA (and biologically the only species that would make sense, since by definition different species can’t really mate) are more southern house mosquitos taken from nearby Palmyra Atoll. So it wouldn’t be a situation where a novel mosquito is being introduced - it’s simply adding more of what is already there. And because of the QC standards for manufacturing mosquitos - my guess is that you would be thousands of times more likely to get some human pathogen from a regular wild mosquito than a lab-grown one.
I thought your reference to Wolbachia potentially enhancing pathogen transmission was interesting, but since all of these native species are about to go extinct anyway, I’m guessing hypothetical concerns about avian malaria infection being enhanced are not applicable here.
Mahalo for your response. The Application for Section 18 FIFRA Emergency Exemption for use of the lab-altered mosquitoes ("DQB Males") https://hawaiiunites.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/EPA-HQ-OPP-2022-0896-0002_content.pdf specifies that the "DQB line of mosquitoes was developed through transfection of Wolbachia pipientis wAlbB isolated from Ae. albopictus KLP strain mosquitoes originating from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia into Culex quinquefasciatus Palmyra strain mosquitoes originating from Palmyra Atoll." These are foreign organisms.
This mosquito release plan has not been sufficiently studied as required for a project of this scope and magnitude that has potential significant impacts to the health of our island's people, wildlife, and 'āina. We have taken state agencies to court to seek a ruling that an environmental impact statement be completed, per the Hawai'i Environmental Policy Act (HEPA).
In the words of tropical disease and vector expert Dr. Lorrin Pang (expert witness in our case), "It is not only what ‘might’ happen, but quantitatively how likely or unlikely might it happen – both the benefits and the side effects." There's no way of answering this question without doing the comprehensive studies needed.
Dr. Lorrin Pang's full response to the judge's decision: https://www.newsletter.hawaiiunites.org/p/we-can-do-this-13000-more-needed
Dr. Lorrin among my oldest heroes & favorites Biotech Mafia opponents! <3