FLORIDA MIGHT soon be losing its exclusive status as the hideaway for Zika-infected mosquitoes in the United States. Laboratory tests show that a cold-tolerant mosquito known as Culex quinquefasciatus can be infected with the Zika virus. If confirmed in the field, this would be a troubling development, suggesting the virus could spread far north of Florida and the Caribbean.
Culex mosquitoes are not targeted for control; the fight against Zika has focused on Aedes aegypti, an invasive mosquito found throughout tropical and subtropical regions worldwide that is primarily blamed for the virus’s outbreak in Brazil and its spread through parts of south Florida.