MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Brazil attempts to combat dengue with GM mosquitoes
The world’s largest ever swarm of genetically modified mosquitoes has been released in a Brazilian town to combat dengue -- a leading cause of illness and fatality in several Mercosur countries, except for Uruguay. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesI'm pretty sure they did something similar in the film “Mimic” and look what happened there. ;)
Apr 21st, 2014 - 08:26 am - Link - Report abuse 0However on a serious note, I do hope this works as there is currently no vaccine against Dengue fever, and in order to stop the spread of disease you need to remove the vulnerable population (through vaccination programmes) or the vector (in this case the mosquito).
Surely that will put a lot of football fans off travelling to Brazil. Can it be transmitted from person to person or do you have to be infected via a mosqito bite?
Apr 21st, 2014 - 09:07 am - Link - Report abuse 0@2 golfcronie
Apr 21st, 2014 - 09:28 am - Link - Report abuse 0It is normally spread by the bite of an infected female mosquito. They require a blood meal to create their eggs.
But in order for any disease to spread there needs to be 3 components.
1. The reservoir - this means that enough of the population has the disease (as carriers) for it to spread.
2. The Vector - this is the means by which the disease is spread - in this case the mosquito.
3. A vulnerable population - that is non-protected people.
Remove any one of these things and the disease can't spread. However in the case of Dengue fever there is a reservoir, there is a vector, and there is no vaccine to protect the vulnerable population.
What the Brazilian government are trying to do is remove the vector - the mosquito, no mosquito - no spread of the disease.
However, people travelling to Brazil for the World Cup shoud go and see their GP or local travel medicine clinic.
Precautions against getting bitten by mosquitos should be taken. Long sleeves from dusk til dawn (mosquitos tend to bite more at these times), mosquito nets and/or zappers in your room, and most importantly, insect repellant with at least 40% DEET in it. Anything less than 40% won't even slow a mosquito down.
Remember the last GM project from Brazil that went bad?? Africanized bees...
Apr 21st, 2014 - 10:33 am - Link - Report abuse 0It's not so much the first bout of Dengue that kills you; it's the second time it gets dangerous.
Apr 21st, 2014 - 12:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Still, football fans might be dissuaded from attending subsequent tournaments in dengue-rich environments.
This article is imprecise. What gene is being introduced and how does it “devastate ” the natural populations?
Apr 21st, 2014 - 02:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0One assumes that the gene induces sterility? In which case can this not be accomplished by irradiation of the males?
Through this method the screwworm fly (Cochlimenion hominorvax) has been successfully eliminated in Libya, the US and most of Central America.
It seems that if the muggers don't get you the mosquitoes will. Better watch it on tv. It's on HD this time, besides you can't get an ice cold Escudo or a completo at the Brazilian stadium anyway.
Apr 21st, 2014 - 09:04 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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