Indonesia devises mosquito infertility technology to curb dengue fever

[Nike]

RI devises mosquito infertility technology to curb dengue fever
6th Sep 2019 14:56

Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes. (REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker/File Photo)

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's National Nuclear Energy Agency (Batan) has devised a radiation technology to spray mosquitoes to control the population of Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes, carriers of dengue virus, to avert and lower incidences of dengue hemorrhagic fever.

"We use and develop this technology based on the general understanding that radiation causes infertility, and we use it to contain the population of insects," Totti Tjiptosumirat, Batan's Head of the Isotopes and Radiation Application Center, informed ANTARA here on Friday.

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Tjiptosumirat elaborated that the "Infertile Insect Technique" is a radiation sterilization process that male mosquitoes are exposed to, so that after male and female mosquitoes mate, the resultant eggs produced will not hatch.

"We use this technology to facilitate the process of reproduction and increase the number of sterile male mosquitoes. When the males mate with female mosquitoes, they will die after mating, and the eggs laid by the females will not hatch. Consequently, the mosquito population will drop since no egg hatches," Tjiptosumirat explained.

Furthermore, Tjiptosumirat has made assurance that the radiation technology employed to spray mosquitoes was not harmful to humans since chemicals, including insecticides, were not used.

Batan will soon release the sprayed male mosquitoes into the wild. The infertile male mosquitoes will mate with female mosquitoes in the wild but not result in fertilization, so the resulting eggs will not hatch. In this way, the mosquito population will diminish.

The Infertile Insect Technique, developed by Batan since 2005, has recorded a very high success rate, with a 96.35 percent effectiveness in reducing the mosquito population.

Health offices in several regions in Indonesia, including Solo, Salatiga, Banjarnegara, Semarang, Bangka Belitung, and some Batan housing complex, have applied this technology. The two-year observation conducted in those areas indicated a decline in the number of dengue fever cases following the application of the technology.

"We are currently striving to work together with other health offices across the country to lower the number of mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue fever, by utilizing this technology," Tjiptosumirat stated.

The Infertile Insect Technique has also been submitted to the Ministry of Health.

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Editor: Rahmad Nasution

COPYRIGHT © ANTARA 2019

https://m.antaranews.com/en/news/13...o-infertility-technology-to-curb-dengue-fever

 

[Nan Yang]

Similarly done in China too.

Mosquitoes have been almost completely wiped out on two Chinese islands
By Ella Hurworth, CNN
Updated 4:16 AM EDT, Thu July 18, 2019

Hong Kong(CNN)A population of the world's most invasive mosquito species was almost completely wiped out by an experiment on two islands in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, according to a study published Wednesday.

The experiment successfully reduced the female Asian Tiger Mosquito population -- the main source of bites and disease transmission -- by up to 94%, reducing the number of reported human bites by 97%.

It isn't the first attempt by researchers to reduce mosquito populations across the world. In 2018, scientists from the Imperial College of London used gene-editing tools to render female mosquitoes sterile, while males developed normally and continued spreading the genetic mutation.

One of the Chinese study's researchers, Xi Zhiyong, a professor at Michigan State University, has been a longtime pioneer in this field of study. Running a mosquito factory in southern China, he previously attempted to use sterilized male mosquitoes to mate with unaltered females.

"We're building good mosquitoes that can help us fight the bad ones", Xi told CNN in 2016.

An Asian Tiger mosquito feeds from someone's hand.
In the new study, published by the International Journal of Science, Xi and his colleagues attempted to cut mosquito numbers even further by limiting both male and females' ability to reproduce.

Female mosquitoes were sterilized with low level radiation while the males were infected with the Wolbachia bacteria, then both were released during the peak breeding seasons in 2016 and 2017 on two islands near Guangzhou city.

The results were so successful they nearly eradicated the entire female mosquito population on the two islands.

In a statement, mosquito ecologist Peter Armbruster said the trial was one of the most successful mosquito reduction trials to date given mosquitoes' stubborn survivability.

Experts said the Asian tiger mosquitoes are particularly hard to eradicate using conventional population control methods, such as pesticides and removing stagnant water where the insects lay their eggs.

Philippines declares national alert after 456 die from dengue fever
The white-striped mosquitoes have been described as "highly invasive" and have spread from Asia to almost every continent over the past 40 years, according to the study's authors.

Mosquitoes pose grave threats to human health beyond just irritating bites. The World Health Organization (WHO) has described the insects as "one of the deadliest animals in the world," due to their ability to rapidly spread deadly diseases such as dengue fever and malaria.

Guangzhou, a densely populated urban metropolis with a tropical climate, saw around 37,350 people infected with dengue fever during an outbreak in 2014.

This month, Philippines health authorities declared a "national dengue alert" after more than 450 people were killed by the virus in just the first half of 2019.

There is currently no effective vaccine or treatment for most mosquio-transmitted diseases, leaving controlling the insects' populations one of the most effective control methods, according to the International Journal of Science.

"A new tool like what's being described in this paper is very much needed," Dobson said.

 

[Nike]

Similarly done in China too.

Mosquitoes have been almost completely wiped out on two Chinese islands
By Ella Hurworth, CNN
Updated 4:16 AM EDT, Thu July 18, 2019

Hong Kong(CNN)A population of the world's most invasive mosquito species was almost completely wiped out by an experiment on two islands in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, according to a study published Wednesday.

The experiment successfully reduced the female Asian Tiger Mosquito population -- the main source of bites and disease transmission -- by up to 94%, reducing the number of reported human bites by 97%.

It isn't the first attempt by researchers to reduce mosquito populations across the world. In 2018, scientists from the Imperial College of London used gene-editing tools to render female mosquitoes sterile, while males developed normally and continued spreading the genetic mutation.

One of the Chinese study's researchers, Xi Zhiyong, a professor at Michigan State University, has been a longtime pioneer in this field of study. Running a mosquito factory in southern China, he previously attempted to use sterilized male mosquitoes to mate with unaltered females.

"We're building good mosquitoes that can help us fight the bad ones", Xi told CNN in 2016.

An Asian Tiger mosquito feeds from someone's hand.
In the new study, published by the International Journal of Science, Xi and his colleagues attempted to cut mosquito numbers even further by limiting both male and females' ability to reproduce.

Female mosquitoes were sterilized with low level radiation while the males were infected with the Wolbachia bacteria, then both were released during the peak breeding seasons in 2016 and 2017 on two islands near Guangzhou city.

The results were so successful they nearly eradicated the entire female mosquito population on the two islands.

In a statement, mosquito ecologist Peter Armbruster said the trial was one of the most successful mosquito reduction trials to date given mosquitoes' stubborn survivability.

Experts said the Asian tiger mosquitoes are particularly hard to eradicate using conventional population control methods, such as pesticides and removing stagnant water where the insects lay their eggs.

Philippines declares national alert after 456 die from dengue fever
The white-striped mosquitoes have been described as "highly invasive" and have spread from Asia to almost every continent over the past 40 years, according to the study's authors.

Mosquitoes pose grave threats to human health beyond just irritating bites. The World Health Organization (WHO) has described the insects as "one of the deadliest animals in the world," due to their ability to rapidly spread deadly diseases such as dengue fever and malaria.

Guangzhou, a densely populated urban metropolis with a tropical climate, saw around 37,350 people infected with dengue fever during an outbreak in 2014.

This month, Philippines health authorities declared a "national dengue alert" after more than 450 people were killed by the virus in just the first half of 2019.

There is currently no effective vaccine or treatment for most mosquio-transmitted diseases, leaving controlling the insects' populations one of the most effective control methods, according to the International Journal of Science.

"A new tool like what's being described in this paper is very much needed," Dobson said.

Every effort should be applauded, for better.

 

[GraveDigger388]

Good. Bloody critters need to extinct.