Hundreds of thousands of sterilized male mosquitoes released to fight dengue fever

The method is being applied in the context of the dengue fever epidemic raging in Guangzhou. According to data recently released by the city's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, from October 14 to 20, Guangzhou recorded 497 new dengue fever cases, an increase of 13.73% compared to the same period last month. More than 150 areas in Guangzhou have implemented dengue fever management due to the risk of an outbreak.

At the same time, in the village of Hiep Thach, Baiyun District, Guangzhou City, a team of experts released 300,000-500,000 sterilized male mosquitoes every week to prevent and control the spread of the disease. According to local media, this biological control technology of “killing mosquitoes with mosquitoes” has been deployed for 7 years and has proven to be effective. To date, there have been no cases of dengue fever in the village.

Researcher Cam Nham Hien and sterilized male mosquitoes to fight dengue fever. (Photo: Guangzhou Daily)

Researcher Gan Renxian said that unlike ordinary mosquitoes, these mosquitoes are male Aedes albopictus mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia bacteria. He calls these mosquitoes “beneficial mosquitoes” or “sterilized male mosquitoes.”

“These male mosquitoes do not bite or feed, making them a sustainable solution to reducing Aedes populations,” he added. The strategy aims to reduce Aedes populations by releasing sterilized males that, when mated with wild females, lay eggs that do not hatch and cannot become mosquitoes.

According to this expert, this year, due to the influence of heavy rain, Aedes mosquitoes are active earlier and for a longer period of time in Guangzhou. This "mosquito control with mosquitoes" strategy is applied to reduce the number of Aedes mosquitoes in the locality.

BICH THUAN (VOV - Beijing)

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/tha-hang-tram-ngan-con-muoi-duc-triet-san-chong-sot-xuat-huyet-ar904374.html