Mosquito Control Wolbachia Program

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2020

Miami-Dade Mosquito Control, in partnership with MosquitoMate, Inc., conducted a scientific project over a period of several months during 2018 to test the feasibility of an innovative approach to mosquito control. This project targeted the mosquito species Aedes aegypti – vector of Zika, dengue, chikungunya and Yellow Fever viruses – a notoriously difficult species to control and a critically important species with respect to its impact on human health as well as economic well-being.The program consisted of a comprehensive field trial utilizing a novel version of ‘Sterile Insect Technique’ (SIT), whereby male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were rendered sterile by means of a naturally occurring bacterium – Wolbachia – and then released repeatedly into the environment in massive numbers (male mosquitoes cannot bite; consequently cannot transmit disease). These sterile male mosquitoes mate with ‘wild type’ female mosquitoes, which then lay eggs which are infertile and do not hatch or develop into mosquito larvae.Careful and intensive study of mosquito populations during the period of the field trial (consisting of trapping of mosquitoes, laboratory identification, and statistical analyses), in comparison to a nearby site without release of sterile males, determined that there was indeed a significant reduction in the population of female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.Essentially, results of this project showed that such a novel technique can be used to suppress populations of Aedes aegypti, which results were subsequently published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, and the project may lead to future programs using sterile male mosquitoes to protect the health and well-being of residents and visitors to Miami-Dade County.