Mosquitoes having bacterial strain Wolbachia are less able to transmit Zika: Recent study

Overview

• Post By : Kumar Jeetendra


• Source: Cell press


• Date: 05 May,2016

Researcher at Brazil's Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ) recently uncovered new mystery over ZIKA transmission an endemic in Brazil as per research study researcher defines that mosquito species Aedes having strain of Wolbachia type of bacterial strain normally present in about 60% of all insects species are less able to transmit Zika and this makes great clue for researcher to control Zika through inserting Wolbachia strain in the eggs of mosquitos.

The study appears in Cell press on 4th of May 2016.Wolbachia bacteria were first identified in 2005 as a way to combat mosquito-borne infections. After four years, researchers were successful in their attempts to isolate the bacterium from fruit flies and get it inside Aedes mosquitoes' eggs, without using any genetic alteration.

According to Researcher,

"The idea has been to release Aedes mosquitoes with Wolbachia in the field over a period of a few months, so they mate with Aedes mosquito without Wolbachia living in the place and, over time, replaces the mosquito population," says senior author Luciano Moreira of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. He is also actively involved in the Eliminate Dengue Program, a non-profit that is testing the approach in 40 locations around the world.

"Zika and Dengue belong in the same family of viruses, so with the outbreak in Brazil, the logical idea was to test the mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia by challenging them with Zika virus and see what would happen" he says.

Note: The above story is for information purposes for more information go through original story source.

Story source: Cell press

Journal References:

Dutra et al. Wolbachia blocks currently circulating Zika virus isolates in Brazilian Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Cell Host & Microbe, 2016 DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2016.04.021