TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said Thursday he'd support the use of genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys to help stop the spread of the Zika virus.
"I think this is going to be such a crisis that we've got to move ahead with it, certainly the pilot study," Nelson told reporters during a stop at Tallahassee International Airport.
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Florida has reported 102 documented cases -- the most in the nation -- of the mosquito-borne virus, which emerged last year in South Africa.
The virus, while causing mild sickness, has been associated with severe birth defects.
Oxitec, a British company, wants to release about 3 million genetically modified mosquitoes in the Keys as part of the first-ever trial in the U.S. of such engineering.
The genetic change is intended to produce offspring that die young and can't reproduce.
"It's not like taking a gene out of something and replacing it in the genetic makeup of something else," Nelson said. "This is altering a gene in the genetic makeup of the (Aedes) aegypti mosquito to turn off that mosquito's ability to reproduce. You have to meet a crisis head-on. And if this is what it takes to eliminate that strain of mosquito, then that is what we're going to have to do."
Nelson's comments came a day after Gov. Rick Scott announced he intends to travel to Washington next week to ask federal officials to quickly come to agreement on a plan to deal with the spread of the Zika virus.
Nelson on Thursday also continued pushing for $1.9 billion in emergency funding to help deal with Zika.
The funding request, which was made by President Barack Obama, remains tied up in Congress.