Fiocruz, the World Mosquito Program (WMP) Brazil and the city hall of Niterói (RJ) will finalize the implementation of the Wolbachia Method in the city. Niterói will be the first city in the Southeast region to be fully covered by the project, which has already had positive results in the territory.

In Niterói, the release of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with Wolbachia started with a pilot action in Jurujuba in 2015 and had covered 75% of the municipality's territory by 2021. Now the Wolbachia Method will reach the neighborhoods that have not yet been included.

"The first releases from the pilot project in Jurujuba, generated incredible results. We did egg releases there and Wolbachia was established and is still present today. In 2017, we began an expansion in the municipality and thus, we arrived in 33 neighborhoods that cover the regions Praia de Baía 1, Praia de Baía 2 and Região Oceânica," recalls Gabriel Sylvestre, WMP Brazil's implementation manager.

"Now Wolbito is back, and the plan is to complete the municipality of Niterói, releasing mosquitoes, where they have not yet been released. This way, Niterói will be the first city in the southeast region to be fully covered by Wolbachia. As part of this expansion, in 2022, we intend to release mosquitoes in 19 neighborhoods that are located in the rest of the northern region that has not yet been covered, in the Pendotiba region, and in the eastern region," reinforces the leader of the Wolbachia Method in the country and Fiocruz researcher Luciano Moreira.

Effectiveness

Sylvestre says that the WMP evaluates effectiveness through two main indicators: entomological data, referring to the establishment of Wolbachia in the territory and its permanence over time, and epidemiological data, which demonstrate the impact of the technology in reducing the transmission of arboviruses. In the year 2021, data showing the effectiveness of the protection guaranteed by Wolbachia were released by WMP Brazil, conducted in the country by Fiocruz. The numbers indicate a reduction of about 70% of dengue cases, 60% of chikungunya, and 40% of zika in areas where there was entomological intervention.

"These numbers are published in a scientific article and corroborate the WMP data in other countries, such as Indonesia, where there was a 77% reduction in cases and 86% reduction in hospitalizations," said Luciano Moreira.

Source: Fiocruz News Agency (AFN).