Scaled deployment of Wolbachia to protect the community from dengue and other  Aedes transmitted arboviruses.

ABSTRACT: Background: A number of new technologies are under development for the control of mosquito transmitted viruses, such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika that all require the release of modified mosquitoes into the environment. None of these technologies has been able to demonstrate evidence that they can be implemented at a scale beyond small pilots. Here we report the first successful citywide scaled deployment of Wolbachia in the northern Australian city of Townsville. Methods: The wMel strain of Wolbachia was backcrossed into a local Aedes aegypti genotype and mass reared mosquitoes were deployed as eggs using mosquito release containers (MRCs). In initial stages these releases were undertaken by program staff but in later stages this was replaced b

SUBMITTER: O'Neill SL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6305154 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature