Dengue fever threatens half the world's population. But now scientists in Malaysia are working on a pioneering programme aimed at tackling the spread of this deadly disease. More on how it could save lives here:
When two mosquitoes carrying the wolbachia bacteria mate, their offspring carry it too but if a wolbachia male mates with an uninfected female, the eggs don't hatch.
The technique they are using is also being rolled out in a number of other areas of the planet where mosquito borne disease is a problem. Professor Ary Hoffmann from the University of Melbourne told Sky News:"I think the potential of this research is absolutely massive. What we've seen now is the initial trial showing a good reduction in dengue, 40% or so."That's likely to be much bigger than that as we get areas that are bigger in terms of getting invaded by the wolbachia. So eventually we could actually see quite substantial decreases in dengue of 70%, 80% or more.
It takes just two weeks for an egg to become an adult mosquito in these conditions, and one female can lay up to 300 eggs in their short life.Mentari Court used to be a hotspot for dengue casesShe was 77 and had already been suffering from kidney failure. Her body simply couldn't fight the deadly tropical disease as well.
"A lot of people tend to take more sick leave. And of course, a lot of young, healthy people get sick."There's no cure for dengue, so the race is on to find ways to prevent it."What we're predicting is long-term dengue transmission blocking in those areas," he said. As the world's temperature rises, the mosquitoes that can carry dengue are being found in new areas, including Europe.Some have been found as far north as Switzerland.
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