From The Epoch Times
July 10, 2018
A landmark experiment in north Queensland could hold the key to combating the spread of mosquito-borne diseases including dengue and Zika.
Australian scientists managed to wipe out more than 80 per cent of the Aedes aegypti (yellow fever mosquito) population near Innisfail, a sugar town in tropical far north Queensland, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) announced on July 10.
The Aedes aegypti mosquito is responsible for infecting millions of people worldwide with diseases such as dengue, Zika, yellow fever, and chikungunya.
Last summer, CSIRO researchers introduced three million sterile male Aedes aegypti in three small towns in the Innisfail region. The local female mosquitos they mated with laid sterile eggs, causing the population to plummet.