A special "mosquito factory" in Rio de Janeiro has joined Brazil's fight with dengue fever, which has infected more than 3.9 million people this year with a death toll of 1,888, a record high in the country's fatalities.
Brazil is fighting the disease by biological means, in which they release mosquitoes deliberately infected with the Wolbachia bacteria into the environment to curb the viral spread of dengue, a mosquito-borne disease.
In the mosquito factory set up by the Health Ministry, mosquitoes infected with the Wolbachia bacteria are bred artificially.
This bacteria, which are found in 60 percent of insects in nature, have been discovered to have the ability to hinder the spread of dengue fever by interfering with the replication process of the dengue virus inside mosquitoes.
The Rio mosquito factory can produce 500 million mosquitoes carrying the Wolbachia bacteria each year. These mosquitoes are later released into the environment where they compete with and eventually replace the dengue virus-carrying mosquitoes through natural reproduction.
The Wolbachia bacteria, which doesn't harm humans or mammals, can spread quickly through mosquito populations via inheritance, reducing the number of vectors carrying viruses like dengue, Zika, and Chikungunya.
"The Wolbachia bacteria-infected mosquito program is not a cure but a preventive means to complement other mosquito control measures. It doesn't solve the current epidemic. Yet if a city is at its peak of dengue fever, it's the optimal time to release Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes. The effects could come out in two years," said Gabriel Sylvestre, head of the World Mosquito Program (WMP) Brazil.
In 2015, Brazil started releasing Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes in Niteroi City of Rio de Janeiro State. By 2021, the city's dengue cases dropped by 70 percent, and by 2023, by 90 percent. In the new dengue outbreak in Brazil this year, Niteroi reported only 1,314 cases.
Currently, Brazil plans to expand the release of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes, aiming to cover one-third of its population within ten years. And in Rio de Janeiro, guppies are being released into urban water bodies to consume mosquito larvae. These combined efforts, along with mosquito spraying, are expected to effectively control the spread of dengue.
"There are a number of factors for the dengue transmission, so we have adopted different means to curb the mosquito influence at much as we could. We have noticed that our actions have brought the dengue fever epidemic to the manageable level," said Rafael Pinheiro, public health surveillance coordinator of Rio.
Rio mosquito factory joints Brazil's fight with dengue fever
Rio mosquito factory joints Brazil's fight with dengue fever
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Cho Tae-yul, foreign minister of the Republic of Korea (ROK), in Beijing on Monday.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that China and the ROK are close neighbors and should maintain regular exchanges.
Recently, China-ROK relations have been facing difficulties and challenges, which is not in the common interests of both sides, nor is it what China wants to see, Wang said, adding that it is hoped that the ROK side will work with China to stick to the original intention of establishing diplomatic ties, adhere to the direction of good neighborliness and friendship, stick to the goal of mutually beneficial cooperation, remove disturbances, and make joint efforts to push for the sound and steady development of China-ROK relations. He pointed out that China and the ROK should understand and respect each other, strengthen communication and exchanges, eliminate misunderstandings and enhance mutual trust.
Wang added that China hopes the ROK side abides by the one-China principle, properly and prudently handles Taiwan-related issues, and consolidates the political foundation of bilateral relations. The two sides should send more objective and positive messages, increase positive guidance, and strengthen people-to-people exchanges to consolidate public support for bilateral relations.
China is speeding up the development of new quality productive forces, promoting high-quality development and expanding high-level opening up, which will bring important opportunities to the ROK, Wang said, adding that the two sides should deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, be reliable and long-term partners in each other's development process, jointly oppose trade protectionism, safeguard the international free trade system, and ensure stable and unimpeded production and supply chains.
Cho said that it is hoped that this visit will become an important step forward in ROK-China relations. The ROK government attaches great importance to its relations with China, and looks forward to working closely with China to develop a healthier and more mature strategic cooperative partnership on the basis of mutual respect, reciprocity and common interests.
He added that it is in the common interests of the two countries and peoples and the expectation of the international community to promote the development of ROK-China relations and jointly meet common challenges. The ROK is willing to enhance mutual trust, expand consensus and focus on cooperation with China, thus avoiding geopolitical constraints as much as possible and jointly opening up a new situation of bilateral cooperation.
The two sides also exchanged views on China-Japan-ROK cooperation, the situation on the Korean Peninsula and other issues of common concern.
At the invitation of Wang, Cho is visiting China from May 13 to 14.
Chinese foreign minister holds talks with ROK counterpart
