Chemical control of disease vectoring mosquitoes Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti is costly, unsustainable, and increasingly ineffective due to the spread of insecticide resistance. The Sterile Insect Technique is a valuable alternative but is limited by slow, error-prone, and wasteful sex-separation methods. Here, we present four Genetic Sexing Strains (two for each Aedes species) based on fluorescence markers linked to the m and M sex loci, allowing for the isolation of transgenic males.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTsetse flies are the cyclical vectors of African trypanosomes and one of several methods to manage this vector is the sterile insect technique (SIT). The ability to determine the sex of tsetse pupae with the objective to separate the sexes before adult emergence has been a major goal for decades for tsetse management programmes with an SIT component. Tsetse females develop faster and pharate females inside the pupae melanise 1-2 days before males.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParasit Vectors
March 2023
Mosquito-borne diseases are among the most important public health problems worldwide [...
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe sterile insect technique (SIT) application, as an alternative tool for conventional mosquito control methods, has recently gained prominence. Nevertheless, some SIT components require further development, such as protocols under large-scale conditions, focusing on packing and shipping mosquitoes, and considering transporting time. Immobilization of males was tested at temperatures 4, 7, 10, and 14 °C, and each temperature was assessed for 60, 90, and 120 min.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntegrated vector control programs that use a Sterile Insect Technique approach require the production and release of large numbers of high quality, sterile male insects. In pilot projects conducted worldwide, sterile males are usually kept in containers at low densities until their manual release on the ground. Although the quality of the released insects is high, these containers are only suitable for small-scale projects, given the fact that the manual labor required for release is significant and therefore untenable in large-scale projects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFand are the main vectors of arboviral diseases such as dengue, Zika and chikungunya viruses. About a third of the world population is currently at risk of contracting -borne epidemics. In recent years, has drastically increased its distribution in many countries.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhilos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci
February 2021
is the primary vector of arthropod-borne viruses including dengue, chikungunya and Zika. Vector population control methods are reviving to impede disease transmission. An efficient sex separation for male-only releases is crucial for area-wide mosquito population suppression strategies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicrosatellite loci still represent valuable resources for the study of the population biology of non-model organisms. Discovering or adapting new suitable microsatellite markers in species of interest still represents a useful task, especially so for non-model organisms as tsetse flies (genus Glossina), which remain a serious threat to the health of humans and animals in sub-Saharan Africa. In this paper, we present the development of new microsatellite loci for four species of Glossina: two from the Morsitans group, G.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProgressive control pathways (PCPs) are stepwise approaches for the reduction, elimination, and eradication of human and animal diseases. They provide systematic frameworks for planning and evaluating interventions. Here we outline a PCP for tsetse-transmitted animal trypanosomosis, the scourge of poor livestock keepers in tropical Africa.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Tsetse flies (Genus: Glossina) are the sole cyclical vectors of African trypanosomoses. Despite their economic and public health impacts in sub-Saharan Africa, it has been decades since the latest distribution maps at the continental level were produced. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is trying to address this shortcoming through the Atlas of tsetse and African animal trypanosomosis.
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