Generales

Researchers at Universidad de Antioquia are using Wolbachia bacteria to infect Aedes aegypti mosquitoes as a way to block the transmission of Zika virus, a disease that continues to expand into even more countries.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Zika virus as a global public health emergency. Zika virus is a member of a family of viruses known as Flaviviruses, which contain genomes consisting of nonsegmented single-stranded positive-sense RNA, and is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes.

According to Dr. Ivan Darío Vélez, director of the UdeA Program for the Study and Control of Tropical Diseases (PECET), an effective solution to stop the spread of the virus would be the implementation of prevention strategies aimed at eliminating mosquito breeding sites.

“If you contract the virus you will be advised bed rest and treatment with drugs such as acetaminophen to relieve fever and pain. Pregnant women with evidence of infection are strongly recommended to consult a maternal-fetal medicine or infectious disease specialist to monitor fetal growth and anatomy,” says Dr. Francisco Díaz, a medical virologist at the UdeA School of Medicine.

Alternatives in fight against Zika virus include the release of mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia so that they can mate and pass the bacterium to future generations thereby preventing the spread of the disease. This initiative has been already implemented in suburbs of Medellín, and is expected to be implemented soon in other areas of the country at risk of Zika.

The initiative led by PECET has yielded satisfactory results so far. Results show that 80 percent of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes released in the suburbs of Bello, a municipality near Medellín, are unable to transmit diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and zika “since the bacterium prevents them from transmitting the viruses, therefore leading to a significant decrease in the number of mosquitoes capable of transmitting such diseases”, Dr. Vélez said. 

According to the Colombian Ministry of Health, so far no method, including vaccines, medicines, and insecticides, among others, has proven effective in fighting Zika.

According to Dr. Vélez, one of the major challenges facing Colombia's fight against Zika lies in the high cost of prevention programs, as well as significant cuts to research budget, which has prevented institutions such as Colciencias from conducting advanced research to counter the Zika virus.