By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-10-01 01:56:56 | Updated at 2026-10-01 02:48:03
1 hour ago
An Aedes aegypti mosquito on human skin in a lab of the International Training and Medical Research Training Center in Cali, Colombia, on Jan. 25, 2016. Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Sept. 29 directing federal agencies to reduce invasive mosquito populations by 90 percent and tick populations by 50 percent on federally controlled land in Washington, D.C., by 2028, according to a White House statement.
The campaign will use non-chemical, technology-based methods and address breeding grounds on land under federal jurisdiction throughout Washington. The White House said the effort could serve as a model for pest control nationwide.
“Foreign, invasive mosquitoes are multiplying across the United States and have become the dominant species in some areas, including Washington, D.C.—spreading disease and diminishing quality of life,” the White House stated. “The expanding tick populations in the country expose Americans, our pets, and our livestock to debilitating and expensive health risks.”
West Nile virus, spread primarily by mosquitoes, was associated with 173 deaths and 1,396 hospitalizations in the United States in 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were 60 cases of the tick-borne Powassan virus, all requiring hospitalization, including nine deaths, the CDC report stated.
D.C. council member Christina Henderson posted Wednesday on X about the executive order, calling it “timely news.”
“I’ve had multiple meetings over the past few weeks about mosquitoes, standing water, & the need for treatment strategies in the public space,” Henderson said.
Trump’s executive order directs the departments of the Interior, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services (HHS), along with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and General Services Administration, to develop and implement the campaign. Agencies will prioritize commercial capabilities or cooperative agreements to reduce disease-carrying pests.
The EPA, working with Agriculture and HHS, must submit a regulatory framework for developing and releasing advanced tick and mosquito control technologies.
The order also directs HHS to expand its existing Lyme Disease Moonshot initiative through prize competitions and additional research programs aimed at preventing and treating diseases transmitted by ticks and mosquitoes. Other agencies will support competitions or research into non-chemical approaches to reducing those diseases.
One mosquito control method uses radiation to sterilize laboratory-raised males, which are then released to mate with wild females, according to the CDC. The resulting eggs do not hatch, reducing the targeted mosquito population over time. That method has been used since the 1950s to control insects. The method doesn’t reduce all types of mosquitoes, only the type sterilized and released into the wild, the CDC said.
Male mosquitoes do not bite, and the irradiated insects are not genetically modified. The technique has been used in the United States against Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which can spread dengue, Zika, and chikungunya, according to the CDC.
