Wolbachia and the biological control of mosquito-borne disease

Capa:Wolbachia and the biological control of mosquito-borne disease

Autor(es): Iturbe-Ormaetxe Iñaki,Walker Thomas,O' Neill Scott L


Resumo: Mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and filariasis cause an enormous health burden to people living in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Despite years of intense effort to control them, many of these diseases are increasing in prevalence, geographical distribution and severity, and options to control them are limited. The transinfection of mosquitos with the maternally inherited, endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia is a promising new biocontrol approach. Fruit fly Wolbachia strains can invade and sustain themselves in mosquito populations, reduce adult lifespan, affect mosquito reproduction and interfere with pathogen replication. Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes have been released in areas of Australia in which outbreaks of dengue fever occur, as a prelude to the application of this technology in dengue-endemic areas of south-east Asia.


Imprenta: EMBO Reports, v. 12, n. 6, p. 508-518, 2011


Identificador do objeto digital: 10.1038/embor.2011.84


Descritores: Aedes aegypti - Pathogenesis ; Aedes aegypti - Viral infections ; Aedes aegypti - Transmission ; Aedes aegypti - Dengue ; Aedes aegypti - Public health


Data de publicação: 2011