Pursuits
The Best Weapon for Fighting Zika? More Mosquitoes
- Researchers use designer-mosquitoes to curb lethal diseases
- With no vaccine, avoiding bites is best way to prevent Zika
The Mosquitoes Taking on the Zika Virus
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Scott Ritchie spent decades “spraying and slaying” mosquitoes. Then he realized that the best way to defeat the blood-suckers was to breed more of them.
Ritchie, a medical entomologist, is now involved in rearing and releasing mosquitoes around the Australian city of Cairns, where he lives. These insects though, are infected with a naturally occurring bacterium called Wolbachia, which inhibits their ability to spread deadly dengue and potentially Zika.