• Brazilian scientists to unleash the first of millions of mosquitoes infected with a bacteria meant to prevent the insects from transmitting the dengue virus to humans.
• Thousands of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes carrying the bacteria were released in front of journalists by scientists from the Fiocruz institute in Rio de Janeiro.
• The hope is that they will then breed and spread the bacteria, denting the insect population’s ability to spread dengue and other viruses including Zika and chikungunya.
• Scientists have been preparing the project – developed by Australians who first put the Wolbachia bacteria into mosquitoes – since last year.
• Dengue causes fevers, rashes, nausea and in some cases can be fatal, while Zika has been blamed for serious birth defects.
• In 2016, fears over Zika led to the United Nations health body to declare an international health emergency, ending in November.
• Fiocruz plans to release 1.6 million infected mosquitoes a week, later stepping that up to three million.
• When an Aedes aegypti mosquito has this (bacteria), it blocks or reduces the capacity of the mosquito to transmit viruses like dengue, Zika and chikungunya.
• When they are released, they will transmit this, as if they were immunising the other mosquitoes and therefore transmission will be reduced.

Source:TH