LONDON — The British biotechnology firm Oxitec wants to start US tests of a new weapon in the war on dengue fever: genetically modifying mosquitoes that carry the disease so that their offspring self-destruct.
Dengue, endemic in more than 100 countries, has begun to appear in the continental US, with local cases occurring in Key West, Fla., in 2009 and 2010 and in Miami last year.
The virus afflicts as many as 100 million people a year, about 20 times the number of serious flu cases, according to a UN agency. In its worst form, dengue can cause severe flu-like symptoms and fatal bleeding.