VietNamNet Bridge - Viet Nam plans to test the Wolbachia bacterium's effectiveness in eradicating mosquitoes carrying the dengue virus.

The test is being conducted in accordance with a five-year project that is being co-operatively managed by Australia's University of Queensland and the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology of Viet Nam. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is funding the project, which is being implemented in Australia, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Scientists and officials are hoping this new innovative dengue prevention technique may help to eradicate the virus in the future. The tests will be conducted on an isolated island in Khanh Hoa Province.

"Wolbachia is a naturally occurring bacteria in up to 70 per cent of all insect species," said the Ministry of Health's Deputy Director of the Preventive Medicine Department Vu Sinh Nam. "Researchers found that if the bacteria is injected into the Aedes Aegypti mosquito – Wolbachia can shorten the insect's life span by 50 percent, which eliminates the mosquitoes ability to spread the virus."

The average life-span of mosquito is about one month. A mosquito can begin transferring dengue viruses between people around its 12th day of maturation. A mosquito infected with Wolbachia would therefore die before it could transfer the disease to people.

Scientists also claim that the bacteria prevents mosquitoes from carrying the dengue virus. In an infected female mosquito's eggs, Wolbachia is transferred to the insect's offspring.

A large number of Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes, which have been infected with the bacteria, have been successfully bred in laboratories at University of Queensland and the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology.

Nam said Australian and Vietnamese scientists have successfully transferred Wolbachia bacterium from a fruit fly into the Aedes aegypti (mosquito).

"If the tests prove to be positive, then the world would have a new, innovative approach to control and combat dengue in Viet Nam and across the world," said Nam.

According to the World Health Organisation, dengue fever is a mosquito-borne viral disease that exists in more that 100 countries globally. The virus infects between 50 – 100 million people annually, which results in about 40,000 deaths a year.

According to statistics published by the Ministry of Health, there are more than 100,000 cases of dengue in Viet Nam every year. More than 1,400 dengue cases, including one fatality, were reported during the first week of this year.

According to Nam, the infected mosquitoes will be released in northern Australia next month. Thai scientists are also preparing to release the infected mosquitoes on a small scale soon.

Source: VNS