Scientists find key to kill mozzie
SCIENTISTS have hailed a world- first breakthrough in wiping out up to 90 per cent of deadly disease- carrying mosquitoes in a trial in North Queensland.
The CSIRO project, to be made public today, released three million sterilised male Aedes aegypti mozzies into three tiny sugar towns near Innisfail and almost completely eradicated the dangerous bugs known to carry dengue, zika, yellow fever and chikungunya.
Researchers hope the landmark findings can help prevent global mosquito- borne viral outbreaks of the potentially fatal diseases.
“This is a substantial step forward in our ability to eradicate exotic mosquitoes,’’ CSIRO research director Dr Paul De Barro said.
With the Asian Tiger mosquito on our doorstep in the Torres Strait, it has been a race against time to control the bloodsucking insects.
“We’ve found how to get rid of mosquitoes altogether,’’ Dr De Barro said. “We don’t want the Asian Tiger, also known as the ‘ barbecue stopper’ for their biting prowess, getting into mainland Australia.”
The Debug Innisfail project used male mosquitoes infected with a strain of wolbachia that, when mated with females, caused the mozzie population to crash. Preliminary data shows more than 80 per cent of the population was wiped out but, with further analysis, that figure is expected to be closer to 90 per cent.