A citywide experiment has shown that releasing Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes can significantly reduce dengue transmission, with results from Singapore demonstrating strong potential for urban disease control.
“Wolbachia prevents the dengue virus from replicating inside mosquitoes, making them far less capable of spreading the disease,” scientists involved in Project Wolbachia–Singapore explained.
Across 15 residential areas, releases of sterile male mosquitoes led to about a 70% reduction in dengue risk and a roughly 77% drop in wild female mosquito numbers over two years, highlighting how biological approaches can complement traditional control measures and help protect densely populated communities from mosquito-borne illness.
