These wonder mosquitoes are being bred to fight deadly dengue

Surprisingly, now mosquitoes can help you combat the spread of dengue. These mosquitoes are bred to carry naturally occurring Wolbachia bacteria that helps in preventing dengue transmission.

Sreemoyee Chatterjee | Published: August 8, 2018 9:41 am

Scientists are using mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia bacteria to prevent spread of dengue

An entire city in Australia did not report a single new case of dengue for the last four years, all thanks to a group of Australian researchers who have safeguarded this city from dengue outbreaks by making use of captive-bred mosquitoes that can effectively combat the spread of this severe virus. This is the first time that captive-bred mosquitoes have been deployed to fight dengue, claim the researchers.

In case you are wondering how this magic happened, here is what the researchers have done. A host of mosquitoes were bred to bear naturally-occurring Wolbachia bacteria that averts the transmission of viruses. These mosquitoes were then released over 66 square kilometres of Townsville, Queensland, targeting those places where they could naturally breed.

According to a recent media report by the New Indian Express, Scott O’Neill, director at the World Mosquito Program at Monash University, Australia, said: “We’re wanting to have a really major impact on disease. For dengue and Zika nothing’s working at the moment for control. There’s evidence of a growing disease burden and there was the big Zika pandemic that stripped through the Americas recently and the rest of the world. I think we’ve got something here that’s going to have a significant impact and I think this study is the first indication that it’s looking very promising.”

After a successful deployment of bacteria rich mosquitoes in Townsville, Queensland, the researchers are now conducting a randomised controlled trial in Indonesia. They have introduced these mosquitoes in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, the area of which twice that of Townsville, housing over 1.5 million people. The scientists said that they would use the same procedure to fight malaria if Wolbachia bacteria proves to be safe and efficient.

Image Source: Shutterstock

Published: August 8, 2018 9:41 am

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