DENGUE MOZZIES ERADICATED IN NQ TRIAL

THE mosquitoes responsible for spreading dengue, yellow fever and zika can be successfully sterilised and eradicated by a bacteria, a landmark North Queensland trial has proved.

Three million Aedes aegypti mosquitoes sterilised with the Wolbachia bacteria were released in North Queensland in 2018. When researchers returned a year later, they found one of the trial sites was “almost devoid of mosquitoes”.

CSIRO chief executive Larry Marshall said the trial had been a success.

“Over 40 per cent of humans suffer from mosquito-spread diseases, so it’s an opportunity for Australia to develop environmentally friendly mosquito control tools to tackle current and future mosquito incursions,” he said.

The technique can also be used to remove the virus-transmitting Asian tiger mosquito that has now established itself in the Torres Strait Islands. Techniques from the trial are being used to support CSIRO-LED mosquito suppression programs in French Polynesia and the NSW Hunter Region.