London, August 25 (ANI): A bacteria, which is commonly found in fruit flies, can prevent the Aedes aegypti mosquito from transmitting the virus that causes dengue fever, researchers have found.
North Carolina State University mathematical biologist Dr. Alun Lloyd, who is part of the Eliminate Dengue program, a research consortium that includes scientists from Australia and the United States, says that introducing a naturally occurring bacterium called Wolbachia - which is not harmful to humans - into the existing wild mosquito population, could help control the spread of the disease.
"When mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia are introduced into the environment, they mate with wild mosquitoes, and pass Wolbachia to their offspring until all Aedes aegypti mosquitoes have Wolbachia. If mosquitoes don't become infected with dengue, they cannot transmit the virus to people," Lloyd explains.
The researchers infected female mosquitos with Wolbachia and found that both strains seemed to block the transmission of dengue virus, and that the bacteria strain was able to infect almost the entire test population in just a few generations.
"This is a simple, non-chemical, non-harmful way to reduce the threat of dengue to humans," Lloyd says. "It could have a transformative effect on the health of literally millions of people worldwide."
The study was recently published in the journal Nature. (ANI)
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