Letter to The Editor

While the Florida Keys Mosquito Board dithers and fails to use every safe and effective weapon that they have in their arsenal, ZIKA is knocking on our door.  They dither because of the raucous resistance of a relative few.

 

On Wednesday it was reported that we now have at least 3 cases of ZIKA here in Monroe. That’s only the cases that have been discovered and proven. Given that many infected persons have no symptoms, we could have scores of infected persons.  It is safe to assume that the authorities ae keeping the number of cases under investigation a closely held secret.

 

We do know that the Florida Dept of Health reports that there are 194 active cases in Miami Dade alone.  Broward has 107.  Need I say that thousands of Broward and Miami Dade residents visit our Keys every week.  And remember those are only the cases that have been discovered.  ZIKA routinely has few outward symptoms, and even those often mimic other diseases.

 

You have to be aware that is was just proven that ZIKA infected mosquitoes are alive and well in several Dade venues.  And let’s not forget that the mosquito that the anti GMM people are protecting is the same mosquito that spreads dengue, yellow fever, and chikungunya.  These are dreadful diseases. Are you aware that Yellow fever is resurgent in the tropics?

 

I trust you will remember that dengue is no stranger to our community.  It was not that many years ago that there were nearly a hundred cases of dengue in the lower Keys.  And yes, there were cases in Key Haven and Stock Island.  The news of that outbreak made national headlines and turned off the tourism money spigot.

 

To date, there have been 49 locally transmitted cases of the virus in Florida, that’s according to the state Department of Health. Forty-two of those have been in Miami-Dade County. Florida is the only state in the continental United States where local transmission has occurred.  Don’t kid yourself, if it’s not already here, unless we do something damned quick, ZIKA will soon be here.

 

The anti GMM crowd is getting down right frantic in their efforts to stop the skeeter killers from killing ZIKA skeeters.  They even paid for ads in FaceBook . The ads verged on hysteria, shrilly warning the residents of Key Haven that the British are coming…the British are coming!   I think that they see themselves as latter day Paul Revere’s.

 

The Oxitec people, the Brits, are the people who are ready willing and able to kill ZIKA mosquitoes by using genetic engineering. Decimate the mosquito population and keep ZIKA from our homes.  The Brits, Oxitec, went to Key Haven to talk to the residents, answer questions, and give out fact sheets.   The Oxitec people posed no threat except to the false narrative being spun and sold by the anti GMM people and real estate interests.  Big real estate wants GM banned because they fear it will harm property values. The anti GMM crowd followed the Oxitec people shouting at them and urging homeowners not to talk to the Brits.  Many Key Haven residents are in favor of the immediate use of GMM, but are reluctant to voice their support. They are unwilling to subject themselves to the ire of the zealots that oppose it.

 

Yep, the anti GMM zealots are so frightened to have anyone hear the other side of the story that they hectored  Key Haven residents to stay away from the Brits.

 

The Anti GMM people, the real estate big shots, are so petrified that their property values will be harmed that they seem willing to do almost anything to stop efforts to kill the Aedes aegypti  mosquito.  Many of them also oppose the use of sprays.  It looks like they are betting with the public health, and the lives of the unborn.  They are betting that ZIKA will just go away.

 

Recently a letter has been put forward by the anti GMM people.  This letter is the work of a local doctor who is married to a candidate for The Mosquito Control Board.  This letter alleges that the GMM process needs additional study prior to its implementation.  The Doc is complaining that because tetracycline is used in the process, that use might….underline might…degrade the efficacy of antibiotics.  The good Doc offers no data or proof; he offers only speculation. The FDA, the EPA, and the USDA  disagree with the Doc.  The scientist and physicians at the FDA, the EPA, and the USDA have made a thorough, multidiscipline study of the process.  They have deemed the process to be safe.

 

You may want to consider that an estimated 29 million pounds of antibiotics are used on our food stock animals each year.  It’s even in their feed.   Kinda makes you wonder just how much damage a mosquito with tetracycline on its feet can do.

 

You should be aware that the author of the aforementioned letter, is Dr. John Norris.  Dr. Norris is married to skeeter board candidate, Kathryn Watkins.  For whatever reason, she chooses not to use her married name in the campaign, but she has no such qualms about using her married name, Kathryn Watkins Norris, in her FaceBook postings that rail against killing the mosquitoes that spread ZIKA by the use of genetic engineering.

 

Kathryn Watkins (Norris) has received only a few contributions in support of her campaign.  Two of which are big..really big…campaign contributions.  One from her husband, Doc Norris.  One from big real estate.  That heavy hitter donor was Southernmost Realty.  The donation was for $1,000.00.  Just for the record, the heavy hitter real estate investor that threatened the skeeter board members with retribution if GMM was used, is not Southernmost Realty, it was Ed Swift lll.  He’s supporting other candidates;  Janet Woods and Steve Smith.  In his letter to the board Mr. Swift clearly stated that he did not care where the process was to be used just so long as it was not in his neighborhood.  His reason? He wrother that it was his concern that the process would harm his real estate value.

 

Words have meanings.  The anti GMM group insist on labeling the initial release of GMM mosquitoes as being an “experiment.”  It is not, it is a proof of concept exercise necessary to win full government approval for the use of the process.  The safety and efficacy  of the process has already been demonstrated in its use in Brazil and other venues.  As this is written, a new release of GMM mosquitoes is underway in Piracicaba, Brazil.  The Brazilian government is damned glad that Oxitec is there to help protect their public health.  Our leaders must quit dithering and use every weapon in their arsenal to protect the public health, and the unborn.

 

 

Walter Lagraves

3695 Tropic Street, Big Pine Key, Fl., 33043

[email protected]    305 515 0204