Scientists make mosquitos less contagious in Pacific islands
Peer-reviewed: This work was reviewed and scrutinised by relevant independent experts.
Some mosquitos in Fiji, Vanuatu, and Kiribati are now less likely to spread dengue fever, after a project led by Australian and Pacific island scientists. The mozzies were infected with a bacteria which makes them less likely to pass on dengue to humans – and there are now self-sustaining populations of those less-contagious mosquitos. Their work on tracking whether it has reduced dengue fever has been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, but they hope to have results in coming years.
Journal/conference: PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Research: Paper
Organisation/s: Monash University
Funder: This work was supported by a grant award from the Commonwealth of Australia represented by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade titled; Operational pilot of Wolbachia technology to reduce the transmission of Aedes aegypti-borne diseases (“the Project”) awarded to SLO. The following authors received full or part salary from this grant for the work described here; WD, LT, TQ, RT, TN, EM, LK, TTA, VR, AT, WV, RP, ES, LN, AR, MH, NK, SCB, AGB, AM, MB, GW, LQD, JBB, DS, CF, NW, KR, PAR, JAD, RS, SKT, PK, YD, AK, LH. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
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