Mosquitos to be infected with bacteria in fight against Zika virus

October 27, 2016  21:07

Mosquitoes in two large areas of Brazil and Colombia are to be infected with bacteria that deprive them of the ability to transmit viruses, in an attempt to check the spread of Zika, which has been held responsible for brain damage in thousands of babies.

Funding the ambitious plan are two philanthropic foundations – the Wellcome Trust and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – together with the Brazilian, UK and US governments. The scheme will cost $18m (£14.7m) and is supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Wolbachia bacteria are carried by around 60% of the world’s insect species, but not by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits Zika, dengue, yellow fever and chikungunya viruses to humans.

Researchers at Australia’s Monash University have been working for the past decade to infect mosquitoes with Wolbachia in an effort specifically to eliminate dengue, but the Zika crisis in Latin America has focused attention and now major funding on their work.

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