The Wolbachia method, a technology that involves creating and releasing mosquitoes modified to carry bacteria that prevent the development of dengue, Zika, and chikungunya viruses, will arrive in a new Brazilian city: Uberlandia, in the state of Minas Gerais.
The technology began to be implemented in the municipality last Friday. Wolbachia is an initiative of the World Mosquito Program (WMP) led by Fiocruz in Brazil, funded by the Ministry of Health and in partnership with city councils in selected regions.
When selecting cities, officials use criteria such as a population of more than 100,000, which accounts for a large number of dengue cases, a high incidence of the disease in the past 10 years, the climate of the area, and modified mosquito reception infrastructure, among others.
According to Deputy Coordinator for General Coordination of Arbovirus Surveillance at the Health and Environment Surveillance Secretariat of the Ministry of Health, Daniel Jarkauskas Ramos, the Ministry of Health has invested 30 million reais to expand the method in 2024 and 2025.
“The population of Uberlandia that will benefit is 352 thousand people, which is about half of the municipality’s population. This corresponds to the neighborhoods that this technology is targeting here. We hope that this will bring benefits not only to Uberlandia, but eventually to other municipalities in the region, as we have been able to expand its use and eventually extend its scope to other municipalities here,” he says in a note.
The Wolbito Production, Management and Breeding Center is located in the Umuarama district, has an area of about 330 square metres, and has a structure equipped with sorting, larvae, piping, washing and storage rooms and a cafeteria. Here, trained professionals will carry out all stages of production, including hatching mosquito eggs using Wolbachia and assembling the tubes for release into the field.
Based on the study of the epidemiological situation of the city, the first mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia will be released in 19 neighborhoods: Custodio Pereira, Daniel Fonseca, Granada, Jaragua, Jardim Brasilia, Cana, Leedes, Luizote de Freitas, Maravilha, Martinez, Morumbi, Nossa Senhora Aparecida, Planalto, President Roosevelt, Residencial Integração, São Jorge, and Santa Rosa, Shopping Park, and Tocantins, benefiting about 350,000 people.
“This is another important step in strengthening the strategy in Brazil, benefiting more and more Brazilian cities and the national public health, as well as our unified health system,” highlights Fiocruz’s Vice President of Health Production and Innovation, Marco Aurelio Nascimento, in a note.
To date, approximately 5 million Brazilians have benefited from the Wolbachia method. This number is expected to reach 70 million in the coming years, as the Ministry of Health has officially included this technology as one of the national strategies to combat arboviruses.
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