Wolbachia transinfection: China's plan to mate lab mosquitoes with wild ones to tackle chikungunya
According to state media, the cumulative number of chikungunya cases as of July 29 in Foshan, Guangdong, where the first cases of the outbreak were reported on July 8, had crossed the 6,000 mark. The measures taken by the Chinese authorities amid the chikungunya outbreak include mandatory blood tests and
mosquito breeding
.
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Residents in various locations in the Guangdong Province shared on social media platforms that mandatory blood tests are being implemented for PCR testing for chikungunya, the EPOCH TIMES reported. It is different from the saliva tests for COVID-19.
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China's largest mosquito breeding facility in the Huangpu District of Guangzhou city, Wolbaki, was running at full capacity and releasing 5 million specially treated male mosquitoes per week, The EPOCH TIMES reported, citing Chinese state media.
The step was taken in the hopes of them mating with the wild female mosquito population to produce unviable eggs in a population control technique known as
Wolbachia transinfection
, where the reproductive compatibility of male mosquitoes is altered by an infection with the common naturally occurring Wolbachia bacterium. Unviable eggs are eggs that, for various reasons, cannot develop into viable offspring.
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What is Wolbachia transinfection?
Wolbachia transinfection is a method where the reproductive compatibility of male mosquitoes is altered by an infection with the common naturally occurring Wolbachia bacterium.
'When the [infected] male mosquitoes carrying the Wolbachia bacterium mate with wild female mosquitoes that do not carry the bacteria, the eggs produced cannot develop normally due to cytoplasmic incompatibility and cannot hatch into mosquito larvae,' Gong Juntao, the head researcher at Guangdong's Wolbaki company that produces the mosquitoes, told Chinese media, as quoted by THE EPOCH TIMES.
Wolbachia transinfection has loopholes
The method has loopholes. For instance, if infected lab females are not separated and instead released into the wild, they can continue to successfully breed and spread disease.
What is chikungunya?
Chikungunya is a disease caused by a virus of the same name. The
chikungunya virus
was first identified in people sickened during an outbreak in Tanzania in 1952. Its name is derived from a word in the Makonde language, which means 'that which bends up,' due to the severe pain it can cause.
Chikungunya is transmitted by infected mosquitoes and mostly causes mild symptoms. The majority of people who get chikungunya recover without needing medical attention after one to two weeks.
What are the symptoms of chikungunya?
Chikungunya typically produces symptoms including fever, muscle pain, nausea, fatigue, and a rash. But in rare cases, it can cause debilitating joint pain that persists for months or even years. Patients who get severely ill often require hospitalization because of the risk of organ damage. The World Health Organization says severe cases and deaths are rare and mostly occur in babies or elderly people with underlying health conditions.
Is there a treatment or vaccine?
There is no specific treatment for chikungunya, but health workers can treat the symptoms by giving medicines to lower fevers or ease muscle pain. Two vaccines have been approved in several regions, including Britain, Brazil, Canada, and Europe. Those are mostly targeted at travelers and are not widely available in the countries most affected by chikungunya.
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