The world’s largest mosquito factory announced on the 1st that it is ready to commence operations in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. Brazil hopes this factory will provide an effective biological control method to prevent the spread of mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever. According to reports, the 1,300-square-meter facility, operated by UK-based Oxitec, has a designed capacity to produce 190 million mosquitoes weekly, which can cover the prevention and control needs for 100 million people within a year and can start production immediately after receiving approval from Brazilian health authorities.
The mosquito factory specializes in producing Aedes aegypti mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia bacteria. Aedes aegypti is the primary vector for mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever, chikungunya, and Zika virus. Studies have shown that Wolbachia in Aedes aegypti can prevent the replication of these mosquito-borne viruses, while giving bacteria-carrying mosquitoes a reproductive advantage over those without. Wolbachia exists in more than half of insect species worldwide, but native Aedes aegypti do not naturally carry this bacteria. After years of research, scientists have safely bred Aedes aegypti infected with Wolbachia. When Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes reproduce, they pass the bacteria to their offspring. Over time, the proportion of the mosquito population with this characteristic will gradually increase, reducing the likelihood of transmission of dengue fever, chikungunya, and Zika virus to humans.
The factory aims to supply mosquitoes to governments worldwide, with Brazil being a key recipient. The facility has innovated in logistics by packaging mosquito eggs and their initial food requirements in paper boxes. This method facilitates long-distance transport of mosquito eggs, allowing for export to other countries, and production costs will be significantly lower than existing technologies.
Brazil is one of the countries most severely affected by mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever, chikungunya, and Zika virus, causing millions of infections and thousands of deaths annually. Brazil began researching this method for preventing mosquito-borne diseases in 2012. In 2015, Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes were released in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro state, resulting in a 70% reduction in dengue cases in the city by 2021.
