Скачать или смотреть Can mosquitoes save the world?

Mosquitoes kill more humans than any other animal. But where mosquito-borne diseases like zika and dengue were once confined to tropical and sub-tropical areas, they are now becoming an increasing risk in more temperate regions like Europe particularly Spain and France where the Aedes Albopictus, or Tiger Mosquito has established itself.

RAZOR’S Reya El-Salahi goes hunting for the Tiger Mosquito in France with entomologist Frédéric Simard, to find out why scientists are so concerned, before meeting an organisation that may have a solution.

The World Mosquito Program, instead of killing the mosquitoes, breeds more mosquitoes, infected with a benign bacteria called Wolbachia, the mosquitoes are then released where they mate with wild mosquitoes. The bacteria renders a mosquito harmless by blocking viruses such as dengue, zika, yellow fever and chikungunya. The ‘Wolbachia Method’ has been successfully trialled in 14 countries.

But with scientists predicting that almost half the world’s population will live in areas with this type of mosquito by 2050, can one intervention solve the problem?