dengue fever could be here to stay

[ericlp]

Interestingly, Brazil has experimented with genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes to combat dengue infection. These GM mosquitoes are infected with the bacterium Wolbachia which prevents the dengue virus from replicating inside the mosquito and cannot be transmitted to humans (3). In April 2012, one year after the release of the 10 million GM male mosquitoes, 85% of the eggs were Wolbachia-positive, indicating that the GM-mosquitoes were overriding the wild-mosquitoes which results in a decrease of dengue transmission (4). Brazil has approved the release of these GM mosquitoes into more districts and plan to release the results of this study early in 2016 (4). The GM mosquitoes were piloted in the Cayman Islands and Malaysia without any unfavorable outcomes (4). - See more at: http://www.healthmap.org/site/diseasedai...pacZf.dpuf