Establishment of Mel in mosquitoes and reduction of local dengue transmission in Cairns and surrounding locations in northern Queensland, Australia.

The Mel strain of has been successfully introduced into mosquitoes and subsequently shown in laboratory studies to reduce transmission of a range of viruses including dengue, Zika, chikungunya, yellow fever, and Mayaro viruses that cause human disease. Here we report the entomological and epidemiological outcomes of staged deployment of across nearly all significant dengue transmission risk areas in Australia. The  Mel strain of   was backcrossed into the local   genotype (Cairns and Townsville backgrounds) and mosquitoes were released in the field by staff or via community assisted methods.

Scaled deployment of to protect the community from dengue and other transmitted arboviruses.

: A number of new technologies are under development for the control of mosquito transmitted viruses, such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika that all require the release of modified mosquitoes into the environment. None of these technologies has been able to demonstrate evidence that they can be implemented at a scale beyond small pilots. Here we report the first successful citywide scaled deployment of in the northern Australian city of Townsville.

Trap Location and Premises Condition Influences on Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) Catches Using Biogents Sentinel Traps During a 'Rear and Release' Program: Implications for Designing Surveillance Programs.

As the incidence of arboviral diseases such as dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever increases globally, controlling their primary vector, Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae), is of greater importance than ever before. Mosquito control programs rely heavily on effective adult surveillance to ensure methodological efficacy.

Modifying the Biogents Sentinel Trap to Increase the Longevity of Captured Aedes aegypti.

Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) is a vector of viruses causing dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever and subsequently pose a significant global threat to public health. While sampling live mosquitoes is useful for surveillance purposes, most traps targeting Aedes kill captured mosquitoes.

Use of rhodamine B to mark the body and seminal fluid of male Aedes aegypti for mark-release-recapture experiments and estimating efficacy of sterile male releases.

Background: Recent interest in male-based sterile insect technique (SIT) and incompatible insect technique (IIT) to control Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus populations has revealed the need for an economical, rapid diagnostic tool for determining dispersion and mating success of sterilized males in the wild. Previous reports from other insects indicated rhodamine B, a thiol-reactive fluorescent dye, administered via sugar-feeding can be used to stain the body tissue and seminal fluid of insects. Here, we report on the adaptation of this technique for male Ae.

Residual and pre-treatment application of starycide insect growth regulator (triflumuron) to control Aedes aegypti in containers.

Background: Dengue is not endemic in Australia, although the vector mosquito Aedes aegypti is. In order to prevent dengue establishment, Australia maintains tight control of vector mosquitoes. Tight control programs often necessitate regular repeat application of treatments, and this is resource intensive.

Operational use of household bleach to "crash and release" Aedes aegypti prior to Wolbachia-infected mosquito release.

Dengue (family Flaviviridae, genus Flavivirus, DENV) remains the leading arboviral cause of mortality in the tropics. Wolbachia pipientis has been shown to interrupt DENV transmission and is presently being trialled as a biological control. However, deployment issues have arisen on methods to temporarily suppress wild mosquito populations before Wolbachia-infected mosquito releases.