Latest News

Spanish laboratory sterilises mosquitoes as environment modification fuels spread of dengue fever

A Spanish laboratory is reproducing and sterilising thousands of tiger mosquitoes to fight dengue fever and other diseases as climate change motivates the intrusive species to spread throughout Europe.

Using an electron accelerator, the regional government-funded Biological Bug Control Centre in Valencia sterilises and releases about 45,000 male mosquitoes each week so they can pair with females - whose bite sends illness among human beings - and ultimately minimize the general mosquito population.

It's a species that is ending up being more typical with environment change ... There is a beneficial environment for its development for longer time periods throughout the year and its populations are increasing all the time, said Vicente Dalmau of Valencia area's health, agriculture and fisheries department.

The specimens for reproduction come from the area, and researchers then use a device to separate female pupae from the males, before utilizing radiation to sterilise the males.

Sterilisation strategies have been used in other parts of the world but the laboratory, utilizing its experience with fruit flies, is pioneering their usage on tiger mosquitoes in Europe at a time of growing issue over a rise in mosquito-born diseases such as dengue, zika and chikungunya.

Information from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control shows an increase in cases imported from regions where dengue is endemic, in addition to an increasing number of regional break outs of West Nile virus and dengue in Europe.

The striped tiger mosquito, or Aedes albopictus, is spreading out north, east, and west in Europe, and now has self-sufficient populations in 13 countries, including Spain.

The World Health Organization said last year that dengue rates were rising internationally, with reported cases considering that 2000 up eightfold to 4.2 million in 2022, as a warmer environment is believed to assist the mosquitoes increase faster.

(source: Reuters)