With its proven effectiveness through a study conducted by the World Mosquito Program (WMP), of Monash University, Australia, in partnership with the Tahija Foundation and the Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia, the Wolbachia bacterium is the main method in the fight against dengue and other diseases transmitted by Aedes aegypti. In Brazil, the institution responsible for the initiative is Fiocruz, with support from Fiotec, and already has factories spread throughout the country.

The method is already adopted in at least 11 countries and more than 20 cities, and consists in inserting the Wolbachia bacteria in mosquitoes, allowing the female mosquito to pass it on to her offspring, with the objective of inhibiting the disease transmission. In Latin America, these mosquitoes are released in cities that participate in pilot projects, such as Medellin, Cali, Bello and Itaguí in Colombia, La Paz in Mexico, Niterói and Rio de Janeiro.

In December last year, the program inaugurated a biofactory in Campo Grande (MS), which will cover seven neighborhoods in the city. The biofactory makes it possible to produce these mosquitoes with the bacteria already inserted, so that they can be released and reproduce naturally. The liberations happen weekly, in the morning, mobilizing health teams, the public school network, and social leaders.

In March this year, an agreement was signed between the Minas Gerais government and the mining company Vale, with technical support from SES-MG, World Mosquito Program, and Fiocruz, which provides for the construction of a biofactory in Belo Horizonte. The project implementation will take place in the regions affected by the Brumadinho dam rupture, which occurred in January 2019.