The White House is seeking the mass destruction of America’s deadliest pests — invasive tick and mosquito populations — starting in the nation’s capital.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued a new executive order, “Eliminating Disease-Carrying Pests And Restoring Enjoyment Of The Great Outdoors,” as part of his administration’s D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, first established in March 2025. The order entrusts federal agencies, namely the Department of Health and Human Services and the Environmental Protection Agency to develop a D.C. specific campaign within 60 days.
The White House and HHS each did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
Ticks and mosquitos carrying deadly diseases are growing increasingly problematic in America, the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies reported in July.
The new initiative will emphasize “non-chemical and technology-based approaches” to wipe-out these vicious vermin while protecting beneficial insects, native plants and animals, the executive order says.
The order calls for a 90 percent reduction in Asian tiger mosquitoes, Egyptian mosquitoes and other invasive mosquito populations in D.C., as well as a 50 percent reduction in ticks, by 2028.
This summer, half a million male mosquitos infected with a bacterium used to sterilize the insects were released in the D.C. area to curb breeding of the insects, the order states. This method introduced by Bee Safe Mosquito Control, and other new pest control methods may be utilized in the issuing of the order.
As more diseased borne by ticks and mosquitos have been reported spotting up across the nation, HHS is separately directed to develop research programs focused on rapid diagnostics, preventive treatments and therapies for diseases including Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, babesiosis, alpha-gal syndrome, West Nile virus, Zika, chikungunya and dengue fever.
Dengue fever in particular is spreading across Florida with 179 cases reported across three Gulf coast counties as of Tuesday.
The order also directs Agriculture and HHS to explore potential labeling requirements for food and drug products containing significant amounts of alpha-galactose, a substance associated with the allergy known as alpha-gal syndrome.
(DCNF)
