22 Oct 2018

Hopes of wiping out dengue type illnesses

From , 6:00 am on 22 October 2018

The World Mosquito Programme is seeing a significant decline in rates of dengue, zika and chikungunya in the Western Pacific as it continues to release mosquitos infected with the wolbachia bacteria into local insect populations.

The Programme's Oceania Director from Monash University, Professor Cameron Simmons, told Jenny Meyer the intervention is showing a lot of success in Fiji, Kiribati and Vanuatu and it appears dengue is being eliminated in areas where the wolbachia mosquitos are introduced.

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Photo: 123RF