This time of year down in pestilential Baltimore, we’ve come to expect an all-out attack by Aedes albopictus, a nasty little customer more commonly known as the Asian Tiger mosquito.

The Asian Tiger can be identified by distinctive bands of black and white on its body and legs. It’s small, fast, and extremely maneuverable — the sports car of the mosquito world. Unlike most other species of mosquito, which prefer the taste of animal blood, the Asian Tiger thrills to the flavor of Homo Sapiens. Thanks in part to its industrious feeding habits — the Asian Tiger is a day-biter, perfectly happy to suck your blood from dawn to dusk, while its lazier cousins are napping — it has carved out an extremely successful niche, especially in urban areas.

It seems paradoxical, but here on St. Peter’s Church Road — where conditions would seem perfect for a plague of mosquitoes, given the abundant farm ponds, thick woods, open meadows, and the slow meander of Shermans Creek — mosquitoes are fairly rare. In the past, we’ve chalked it up to legions of hungry frogs in the ponds hoovering up the larvae before they can hatch, and efficient squadrons of dragonflies and bats patrolling the skies for the lucky few who make it to adulthood.

In fact, Perry County is where we’ve found blessed relief from summer’s swarming bloodsuckers. Which is why I was so shocked to observe a certain bandy-legged whiner coming in for a landing on our porch screen last weekend. A closer look confirmed it: a female Aedes, no doubt attracted by my manly scent, was gazing hungrily at me through the wire mesh.

I killed it, of course, but there wasn’t much satisfaction. When you find a scout, the rest of the army can’t be far behind.

Aside from being a summertime nuisance, the Asian Tiger is an important vector of West Nile virus, a disease far less deadly than the media coverage would lead you to believe, but still serious enough for states like Pennsylvania to track. You can monitor the annual progress of West Nile across the state at www.westnile.state.pa.us. Here’s the short version: out of the 84 mosquito samples collected this year so far in Perry County, 2 have tested positive for West Nile. No birds have tested positive; no veterinary samples have tested positive; and there have been no human cases.

The Asian Tiger mosquito has been quietly expanding its base of operations in the past few decades, surviving — and flourishing — in a worrisome range of habitats and climates. This is sure to be a cause of much human misery in the future, but one of its cousins, Aedes aegypti, which spreads the dreaded Dengue fever, has already been wreaking havoc in many parts of the world.

There is no cure for Dengue fever, and scarcely any treatment. It affects between 50 and 100 million people a year; approximately 2.5 billion people live in the zone of potential infection. Lest we think this is only a problem in the developing world, in 2009, the state of Florida experienced its first Dengue outbreak in 55 years, and conditions for the Aedes aegypti have only improved since then.

Mosquitoes and human beings have been doing a deadly dance for millions of years. Some scientists estimate that half of all human deaths in history — half! — can be attributed to mosquito-borne illness. There have been huge advances in mosquito control and eradication, such as insect screens and spraying programs, but the enemy has adapted. Given the alarming spread of Aedes, and an exploding human population squeezing itself into urban areas, what is to be done?

Enter Oxitec, a biotech start-up based in Oxford, England. The researchers at Oxitec have taken a novel approach to mosquito control. They’ve created a genetically engineered male, which, when introduced to the wild population, finds a female, mates with her, and, in so doing, passes on a custom-made gene which ruins all the fertilized eggs. The female dies soon after laying her eggs; the male does, too.

This approach has proven extremely effective in reducing Aedes populations, both in the lab and in the wild, where it’s being tested in countries like Brazil, which is currently suffering from Dengue epidemic.

There are enormous advantages to Oxitec’s strategy. Unlike pesticides, which kill a broad spectrum of insects, including helpful ones, the genetically modified Aedes targets a single species of mosquito with laser-like precision. There’s no expensive and labor intensive game of hide and seek — the Oxitec mosquito flies off and does what any red-blooded male will do: it finds a female and gets busy.

A brilliant solution to a pressing global health problem, right?

Unless, of course the words “genetically modified” put you instantly in mind of dinosaurs running amok in a doomed theme park.

There’s more than a little “Jurassic Park” in the story of the modified Aedes mosquito. Some of the fiercest opposition to Oxitec’s approach has sprung up in the Florida Keys, where local health officials are weighing whether to proceed with an experimental release of the genetically neutered males.

But I’m all for it. For decades, these little vampires have been gaining the upper hand.

It’s time for us to adapt.

This column was published in the Perry Co Times on 02 August 2012

For more information, please contact Mr. Olshan at writing@matthewolshan.com