Southern California’s buzzing with a bold new plan to squash a dengue fever surge, and it’s showing serious promise, according to the Los Angeles Times. The culprit? Aedes aegypti, a pesky, black-and-white-striped mosquito that’s been spreading the potentially deadly virus across LA and San Bernardino counties. Officials are convinced that unleashing thousands of sterile male mosquitoes into the environment will crash their population, no chemicals needed.
Since 2023, the West Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District in Ontario has released sterile male mosquito populations into the environment, slashing invasive mosquito counts by as much 33% last year, representing the first population drop in eight years. Brian Reisinger, the West Valley Mosquito’s community outreach coordinator, told the LA Times:
“Not only were we out in the field and actually seeing good reductions, but we were getting a lot less calls — people calling in to complain.”
In LA’s Sunland-Tujunga, the Greater LA County Vector Control District kicked off its own pilot program in 2024, pumping out 30,000 sterile males weekly, outnumbering wild males 10-to-1. The result? A 44% plunge in mosquito numbers in targeted San Bernardino spots.
The program entails the release of sterile males to mate with females. The resulting eggs don’t hatch. Since only female mosquitos bite, this cuts disease spread including dengue, Zika, even yellow fever. Aedes aegypti, a newer mosquito to California since about 2015, loves nipping ankles and breeding in tiny water spots like plant trays. With 18 local dengue cases in California last year, per the LA Times, and 14 in LA County alone, including a Baldwin Park outbreak, the stakes are high. Dengue, aka “breakbone fever,” can mean brutal aches or worse, with over a third of LA cases requiring hospital stays.
West Valley’s $200,000 program now drops up to 3,000 sterile males biweekly per site, while LA’s $350,000 pilot is set to expand. Orange County’s jumping in, planning 100,000 weekly releases in Mission Viejo starting late May. Mosquito season’s stretching longer, from March to December, making these efforts critical.
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