HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	95
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

Urging the department of agriculture, department of health, and department of land and natural resources to develop and implement a mosquito control program that uses Wolbachia bacteria to reduce both the rate of transmission of mosquito-borne diseases and mosquito population levels throughout the State.

 

 

 

        WHEREAS, the control of mosquito populations throughout the State is urgently necessary to protect the health and well-being of the State's residents and animals; and

 

        WHEREAS, mosquito-borne diseases, including the Zika virus, West Nile virus, Chikungunya virus, dengue, and avian malaria, are spread through the bite of an infected mosquito; and

 

        WHEREAS, more species of native birds have gone extinct in Hawaii than anywhere else in the world, with ten unique bird species disappearing from Hawaii since the 1980s; and

 

        WHEREAS, virtually every individual native bird living below 4,000 feet, or 1,200 meters, in elevation has been eliminated by avian malaria; and

 

        WHEREAS, between 2013 and November 2, 2020, the Department of Health confirmed twenty-six cases of the Zika virus, thirty-six cases of the Chikungunya virus, and three hundred sixty cases of dengue in the State; and

 

        WHEREAS, according to a Department of Agriculture report submitted to the Legislature on December 26, 2019, as required by Act 106, Session Laws of Hawaii 2019, mosquitoes in Hawaii also pose a potential threat to Hawaii's native wildlife, especially native birds; and

 

        WHEREAS, Hawaii's mountaintop forests serve as a refuge for native birds escaping from mosquitoes that carry avian malaria; and

 

        WHEREAS, however, climate change has raised temperatures in Hawaii's mountaintop forests, resulting in mosquitoes moving toward the mountains' respective summits and threatening the only disease-free refuge for native birds; and

 

        WHEREAS, various federal and state agencies, including the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, National Parks Service, Department of Agriculture, Department of Land and Natural Resources, and Department of Health, have made significant efforts to suppress mosquito populations; and

 

        WHEREAS, these efforts include the development of Wolbachia-infected mosquito lineages, application of chemical adulticides and larvicides, reduction of mosquito habitats, and distribution of materials to educate the public about mosquito control and bite prevention; and

 

        WHEREAS, Wolbachia is a naturally occurring bacteria that is present in approximately fifty percent of all insects; and

 

        WHEREAS, introducing the Wolbachia bacteria, which is safe to humans and the environment, into mosquito populations throughout the State would help to prevent the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases in humans and wildlife; and

 

        WHEREAS, according to the World Mosquito Project, once a mosquito becomes infected with the Wolbachia bacteria, the bacteria actively competes with certain mosquito-borne diseases, making it more difficult for the certain mosquito-borne diseases to reproduce inside the infected mosquito, and thus reduces the likelihood of the mosquito spreading any disease to humans; and

 

        WHEREAS, because male mosquitoes infected with certain Wolbachia bacteria are unable to produce offspring with wild female mosquitoes that are either not infected with any Wolbachia bacteria or are infected with a different Wolbachia bacteria than the male mosquito, Wolbachia bacteria may also be used to suppress mosquito populations; now, therefore,

        BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, that the Department of Agriculture, Department of Health, and Department of Land and Natural Resources are urged to develop and implement a mosquito control program that uses Wolbachia bacteria to reduce both the rate of transmission of mosquito-borne diseases and mosquito population levels throughout the State; and

 

        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture, Director of Health, and Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Department of Agriculture; Department of Health; Department of Land and Natural Resources; Wolbachia; Mosquito Control Program