Panama is the latest country to consider releasing millions of genetically modified mosquitoes on its territory to try and combat the spread of the fast-moving Zika virus.
The country's health ministry is looking into the 'viability and feasibility' of expanding a study that killed off disease-carrying mosquito populations by genetically altering the lifespan of their offspring.
It involves introducing male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes whose genes have been altered to mate with the females.
The Aedes aegypti mosquito (pictured), which also transmits dengue fever and chikungunya, is responsible for spreading Zika
The Zika virus hsa been linked to more than 3,500 cases of a birth defect in Brazil that causes abnormally small skulls and brain damage in babies
But their genetic modifications mean the males' offspring then die at the larvae stage - far before reaching reproductive age.
The genetically modified 'father' mosquitoes themselves don't spread disease because only the females bit
In 2014 the original project, carried out in a town west of Panama's capital, resulted in a 93 percent decline in the mosquito population in the area.
However, Panamanian officials cautioned that while the results were encouraging, the project's cost was 'high'.
Because of that, the government needed to work out if the money would be better spent on genetically tinkering with mosquitoes or boosting public information campaigns to urge eradication of breeding spots for the insects.
In Panama there are 50 confirmed cases of Zika infection, all of them in its Caribbean coastal region.
Last month it emerged Brazil had authorised the use of the modified bugs to combat the disease, which has been linked to a sudden spike in birth defects in the country's north.
The Zika virus is believed to be behind more than 3,500 cases of microcephaly - a rare condition in which newborns have smaller than normal heads and their brains do not develop properly.
Fewer than 150 cases of microcephaly were seen in all of 2014.
The Aedes aegypti mosquito is responsible for spreading Zika. It also transmits dengue fever and chikungunya.
Joseph Conlon, a technical adviser for the American Mosquito Control Association, called the results 'novel and potentially efficacious.'
Conlon said the procedure is not 100 per cent effective, but if it is allowed to proceed to full measure, it will 'reduce the mosquito population below disease transmission levels with minimal effect on the environment.'
He added that the Aedes aegypti 'are notoriously difficult to control by conventional spray methods such as truck or aerial sprays.'
THE ZIKA VIRUS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The Zika virus was first discovered in monkey in Uganda in 1947 - its name comes from the Zika forest where it was found.
It is native mainly to tropical Africa, with outbreaks in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.
However, it appeared in Brazil last year and has since been seen in many Latin American countries and Caribbean islands.
It is transmitted through bites from the same kind of mosquitoes that can spread other tropical diseases, like dengue fever, chikungunya and yellow fever.
It is not known to spread from person to person.
Investigators, though, are exploring the possibility that the virus can be passed on through sex - it was found in one man's semen in Tahiti.
There are also reports of a man in Texas contracting the virus after having sexual contact with an ill person who returned from a Zika-affected country.
Genetically modified male mosquitoes, which are altered to make their offspring die as larvae, could hold the key to reducing the spread of the virus
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
No comments:
Post a Comment