World Mosquito Day Highlights Innovative Wolbachia Method

Every year on World Mosquito Day, diseases spread by mosquitoes, which account for over 17% of all infectious diseases and lead to more than 700,000 deaths annually, are highlighted.

Parasites, bacteria, or viruses can cause these diseases, including chikungunya, malaria, dengue, Zika, and yellow fever.

While some diseases can be prevented with innovative travel vaccines, some can not.

This is why the World Mosquito Program exists today.

According to the World Mosquito Program, the Wolbachia method is vital in fighting mosquito-borne diseases and protecting communities worldwide. This program can reduce the number of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.

When male Ae. aegypti mosquitoes with Wolbachia mate with wild female mosquitoes that do not have Wolbachia. The eggs will not hatch. Because the eggs don't hatch, the number of Ae. aegypti mosquitoes decreases.

They do this by breeding with wild mosquitoes until, over several generations, they replace the local mosquito population.

This means Wolbachia mosquitoes help decrease the risk of dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever outbreaks.

The World Mosquito Program is currently operating in 13 countries—Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Honduras, Laos, Vietnam, Kiribati, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Mexico—and protects more than 11.4 million people.

In the United States, communities in Texas, Florida, and California have released mosquitoes with Wolbachia over the past seven years and a significant decrease in Ae. aegypti mosquitoes have been reported.

In 2023, the state of Hawaiʻi also launched a Wolbachia program.

Most importantly, the U.S. CDC says no data suggests that Wolbachia bacteria harm people, animals, or the environment.

Let's hope locally-acquired chikungunya, dengue, and malaria cases soon become distant memories as disease-carrying mosquitos disappear.