Particle.news
Download on the App Store
4 ARTICLES
·
last mo.

Yucatán Opens ‘Good Mosquito’ Factory to Lead Mexico’s Wolbachia Rollout

Federal backing positions the Mérida facility as the supplier for other states in Mexico’s coordinated dengue-control rollout.

Image
RECIFE, BRAZIL - JANUARY 26: Aedes aegypti mosquitos are seen in a lab at the Fiocruz institute on January 26, 2016 in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil. The mosquito transmits the Zika virus and is being studied at the institute. In the last four months, authorities have recorded close to 4,000 cases in Brazil in which the mosquito-borne Zika virus may have led to microcephaly in infants. The ailment results in an abnormally small head in newborns and is associated with various disorders including decreased brain development. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Zika virus outbreak is likely to spread throughout nearly all the Americas. At least twelve cases in the United States have now been confirmed by the CDC. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Overview

  • The state government and UADY inaugurated the facility in Mérida, launching the National Strategy for the Control of Dengue and other Arboviruses.
  • Cenaprece announced an extra 10 million pesos for expansion and will coordinate production to serve multiple states.
  • Wolbachia-carrying Aedes aegypti will be deployed using egg-filled ovitraps, and authorities say the method is safe for people, animals and the environment.
  • Officials report a roughly 41–44% year-over-year drop in dengue cases in Yucatán during experimental releases, which they cite to justify scaling up.
  • The effort has support from PAHO advisers, and federal plans call for staged weekly releases starting on the Yucatán Peninsula and extending to other regions.