'Praise God To This Day There Have Been No Protests From The Residents,' Kupang City Government Supports Wolbachia To Overcome Dengue Fever

Photo Archives - Eggs of Aedes aegypti mosquito that have been injected with Wolbachia bacteria when viewed using a microscope at the launch of the campaign/ANTARA PHOTO/Nyoman Hendra Wibowo/aa)

KUPANG - The City Government (Pemkot) of Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara Province, stated that it supports the use of Wolbachia mosquitoes to overcome the transmission of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). "If this is really done scientifically and by well-known universities, why should it be rejected?" said Acting Mayor of Kupang Faharnsy P. Funay in a media briefing which was followed online in Jakarta, Antara, Friday, November 24. Funay said the Kupang City Government helped socialize efforts to control dengue transmission through the release of the Aedes aegypti mosquito carrying the Wolbachia bacteria. "Even though our society is tough, Praise God to this day there has been no strong complaint from the public," he said. Funay realized that Kupang City was chosen as one of the areas for implementing the DHF transmission control program using the Wolbachia mosquito distribution method because the number of cases was still relatively high. The release of the Wolbachia-carrying mosquito is expected to reduce the risk of dengue transmission in Kupang City. Dengue hemorrhagic fever occurs due to infection with dengue virus. Dengue virus can be transmitted to humans through the bite of aedes aegypti female mosquito infected with the virus. The Director of Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases at the Ministry of Health, Imran Pambudi, said that from January to November 2023 there were 76,449 cases of dengue infection with 571 deaths, a decrease from 143,300 cases with 1,236 deaths in 2022. "Actually, we were able to reduce more than half of last year's cases, but this death rate is still quite high, so we need to make or innovate in order to prevent and control dengue transmission," said Imran. Wolbachia bacteria according to research results can block the replication of the dengue virus in the mosquito body so that mosquitoes are unable to transmit the virus to humans. Efforts to control the dengue vector are carried out by releasing male mosquitoes and female mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia into the natural population of mosquitoes.

If a male mosquito carrying Wolbachia mates with a female mosquito without Wolbachia, the resulting eggs will not hatch, so that the population of mosquitoes does not develop. If a female mosquito carrying Wolbachia mates with a male mosquito without Wolbachia, then all of the mosquito eggs that hatch will contain Wolbachia, so they cannot transmit the dengue virus to humans.