Submitted by the MVCAC VVBD Committee
Ohm, JR, et al. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 112(6), 2025, pp. 1313–1324 doi:10.4269/ajtmh.24-0262
Abstract. Male mosquitoes containing the endosymbiont Wolbachia (Wb1) can be used as a tool to suppress wild mosquito populations through a technique termed incompatible insect technique (IIT). IIT programs reduce wild mosquitoes via incompatible mating between released males and wild females to reduce the number of viable offspring produced in the next generation. Successful programs rely on regular release of incompatible males to outcompete wild males for female mates. Past IIT programs have relied on local production of Wb1 males to support regular releases of incompatible males. Here, we evaluated the survival and dispersal of packed and shipped Wb1 Aedes aegypti males in mark-release-recapture studies at a release site in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), separated by over 3,600 miles from the centralized production facility. Released mosquitoes were recaptured using BG-Sentinel 2 traps collected daily for up to 7 days after release. Wb1 male mosquitoes packed and shipped from a centralized production facility performed similarly to males that were locally reared in the BVI in survival, dispersal, and recapture rates. Our results support the conclusion that packing and shipping live Wb1 male mosquitoes does not impact their ability to survive and disperse in release sites and suggests that IIT mosquito control programs can feasibly be conducted nearly anywhere in the world without the need for local mosquito production facilities.
Note: This research indicates that MVCAC Districts considering IIT or SIT could procure incompatible/sterilized males from a distant production facility and release them locally as a preliminary ‘test of principle’ without having to first develop a local mosquito production facility.