http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-27/zika-eliminate-dengue-project-to-expand-after-qld-success/7969038?sf40164263=1
Zika trial ‘has saved us’ Queensland doctor says, as program prepares for major expansion
Australian scientists are preparing for an international expansion of a program, already hailed as a saviour in Townsville, that stops mosquitoes passing on viruses such as dengue and zika.
The Eliminate Dengue project has received more $18 million from global donors, including the Gates Foundation and the United States Government, to carry out work in Colombia and Brazil.
Researchers have been working on the program for the past decade, with field trials taking place in Cairns and Townsville.
They have been releasing mosquitoes infected with a bacteria called wolbachia, which stops the transmission of viruses such as dengue and zika.
Steven Donohue from the Townsville Public Health Unit said the results so far had been spectacular.
“I think this program has saved us from zika virus, and dengue cases have virtually dried up,” Dr Donohue said.“So it’s been a very good last couple of seasons in terms of dengue, and so far no zika, and we’re hoping that remains that way.
“In fact, we’re in a rush to get wolbachia protection into all of the main suburbs of Cairns and Townsville and surrounding towns to protect the community.”
Monash University’s Professor Scott O’Neill, who leads the program, said officials were keen to have the program rolled out in South America.
“Currently we have a major problem with zika virus being transmitted around the world and there’s really no effective treatment to control diseases transmitted by this one mosquito (aedes aegypti),” he said.
“What we’ve been working on for more than 10 years now is a new approach for the control of these diseases and we’re at the stage where we’re ready to upscale those deployments to cities.
“And one of the few approaches that’s really ready to be used against zika in this emergency setting.”
Professor O’Neill said the program was being rolled out in large urban areas and up to 2 million people could be protected.
“There’s many challenges to consider when you’re doing something of such a large scale, so one of the key things we’re needing to work with is: How, logistically, do we deploy over such a large population centre in such a short period of time?” he said.
“And at the same time, how do we get the cost down? Our goal is try to reduce the cost to less than $1 per person for deployment.”
Dr Donohue said he believed the program would be successful.
“I think in terms of these newer prevention methods, you’ve got some of these genetic methods which you keep having to release at an enormous cost to try and just reduce the population of the mosquitoes, where as this is a natural bacteria which exists in many other insects and these are resistant mosquitoes that stay there,” he said.
“You put them out once, it’s highly cost-effective, and if you’ve got a population of mosquitoes which can’t spread disease you’ve won the battle.“It doesn’t matter if they are still breeding because they are resistant mosquitoes. That’s the hope and I think there’s great potential for some of these endemic countries.”
Countries in South-East Asia and the Western Pacific have also expressed interest in having the program rolled out in their regions.