2023-04-23 05:31:47
For 10 years from 2024, up to 5 billion male mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria will be released to Brazil. The non-profit organization World Mosquito Program (WMP) announced that it will conduct a large-scale pilot mosquito control project to prevent dengue fever from next year in cooperation with the Oswald Cruz Foundation, a public science institution in Brazil. In the past, WMP conducted small-scale experiments to release male mosquitoes infected with the Wolbachia bacteria in cities in several countries, including Australia, Colombia, Indonesia, and Vietnam, and all were successful.
Aedes aegypti, which transmits viruses such as dengue fever, Zika and chikungunya, is known to greatly reduce the risk of spreading the disease if infected with the Wolbachia bacterium. At the same time, male mosquitoes infected with the bacteria become infertile, which also helps reduce mosquito populations. In fact, eggs laid by female mosquitoes that mate with bacterially infected male mosquitoes do not hatch.
A factory to produce the mosquitoes to be released will be established in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. WMP is considering drones, motorcycles and cars to quickly disperse mosquitoes. On the other hand, Professor Mauricio Nogueira of the Department of Microbiology at Sasão José do Rio Preto Medical University in Brazil expressed concern, saying, “There is evidence that WMP mosquitoes are effective tools, but they need to be clearly proven for large-scale release.”
World Health Organization (WHO) and has not yet proceeded with official approval for radiation. WHO plans to discuss whether to approve it at a vector control advisory group meeting in late April. If not approved, there might be restrictions on the use of the technology in countries other than Brazil.
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