Assessing key safety concerns of a Wolbachia-based strategy to control dengue transmission by Aedes mosquitoes
Autor(es): Popovici Jean, Moreira Luciano A, Poinsignon Anne, Iturbe-Ormaetxe Inaki, McNaughton Darlene, O'Neill Scott L
Resumo: Mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever, chikungunya or malaria affect millions of people each year - control solutions are urgently needed. An international research program is currently being developed that relies on the introduction of the bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia pipientis into Aedes aegypti to control dengue transmission. In order to prepare for open-field testing releases of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes, an intensive social research - community engagement program was undertaken in Cairns, Northern Australia. The most common concern expressed by the diverse range of community members - stakeholders surveyed was the necessity of assuring the safety of the proposed approach for humans, animals - the environment. To address these concerns a series of safety experiments were undertaken. We report in this paper on the experimental data obtained, discuss the limitations of experimental risk assessment - focus on the necessity of including community concerns in scientific research.
Palavras-Chave: Aedes aegypti; Wolbachia; Dengue; Risk assessment; Safety; Biological control
Imprenta: Memo?rias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, v. 105, n. 8, p. 957-964, 2010
Identificador do objeto digital: 10.1590/S0074-02762010000800002
Descritores: Chikungunya virus - Flaviviridae ; Chikungunya virus - Pathogenesis ; Chikungunya virus - Viral infections ; Chikungunya Virus - Virus ; Chikungunya virus - Transmission ; Chikungunya virus - Chikungunya fever ; Chikungunya virus - Dengue ; Chikungunya virus - Public health
Data de publicação: 2010
