The Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MoH) is planning to expand the pilot release of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes in some southern areas in the next few years to prevent dengue fever, state media reported. The MoH’s Preventive Medicine Department said that representatives of the ministry and some institutes recently had a working session with Prof. Scott O’Neil from Australia’s Monash University, who leads the global Eliminate Dengue Program, to discuss the plan. The Eliminate Dengue program in Vietnam is asking for permission to pilot the release of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes in a small mainland area in the central city of Nha Trang from late 2017. Global scientists succeeded in infecting Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with Wolbachia and proved that this bacterium can curb the growth of dengue, Zika and other viruses inside the mosquito and their transmission to human. According to the Preventive Medicine Department, as many as 100,000 cases and 26 deaths due to dengue fever have recorded since the beginning of this year. (VnExpress Sept 10; Sai Gon Giai Phong – Liberated Saigon, Lao Dong – Labor Sept 9)
