Fighting Dengue

In a bid to tackle the deadly mosquito borne dengue fever, China has built world’s largest mosquito factory in Guangzhou province. The factory will be releasing one million sterilised mosquitoes every week to dilute mosquito population.

The mosquitoes will be released in Guangzhou province’s Shazi Island every week and the first field trial has brought down mosquito population by 90 percent. This is one of the most innovative techniques for diluting mosquito population with insects that don’t carry the disease.

The sterilised mosquito carries a strain which makes a person immune to dengue in the future, but upon getting bitten by another mosquito, the chances of developing dengue increase. China witnessed one of the worst outbreaks in two decades last year with 47,000 cases. No treatment or vaccine is available to treat dengue and in the past one year it has claimed 22,000 lives worldwide.

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