Outsmarting Zika and Dengue Fever
Thursday, Feb 18, 2016, 01:00 PM | Source: Pursuit
Cameron Simmons, Nancy Endersby-Harshman
The fight against Zika and dengue fever has been bolstered by the development of a second strain of a bacteria that blocks mosquitoes from transmitting the viruses, giving scientists a double shot at guarding against a viral mutation.
After years of work, researchers have successfully developed a second strain of the Wolbachia bacteria that has already been found to block the Aedes egypti mosquito from passing on Zika and other viruses like dengue fever. By infecting mosquitoes with both strains of the bacteria, it makes it twice as difficult for a virus to mutate to get around the blocking Wolbachia.
The research, published in the US-based journal the Public Library of Science, also shows that the blocking effect itself is strengthened in “superinfected” mosquitoes that carry both strains.
The ground-breaking project to introduce Wolbachia into mosquito populations is already set to open a new front in the battle to control mosquito-borne diseases. But by developing a second strain the researchers have made a pre-emptive strike against viruses developing a resistance to Wolbachia, even as the project to inoculate mosquito populations with the bacteria aims to crank up.