World Mosquito Program Noumea - Human Sample Component

The dengue, Zika and chikungunya arboviruses represent potentially severe infections to which the New Caledonian population is exposed. In the absence of specific treatment or vaccine, vector control remains the method of choice to limit their spread. However, the traditional methods of prevention and vector control measure today face their limits: mosquito resistance to insecticides, difficulty of access and destruction of breeding areas... The World Mosquito Program Noumea project is based on the artificial colonization of the mosquito vector Aedes aegypti by the endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia, which reduces its ability to transmit arboviruses. The breeding of mosquitoes carrying the bacterium Wolbachia in the laboratories of the Institut Pasteur of New Caledonia requires the use of human blood samples for mosquito gorging. The objective of the research is to generate, maintain and amplify Aedes aegypti Caledonian lineages carrying the Wolbachia bacteria for the planned insect release program in Noumea.

The dengue, Zika and chikungunya arboviruses represent potentially severe infections to which the New Caledonian population is exposed. In the absence of specific treatment or vaccine, disease vector control remains the method of choice to limit their spread. However, the traditional methods of prevention and disease vector control must today face their limits: mosquito resistance to insecticides, difficulty of access and destruction of breeding areas... The World Mosquito Program Noumea project is based on the artificial colonization of the mosquito vector Aedes aegypti by the endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia, which reduces its ability to transmit arboviruses. The breeding of mosquitoes carrying the bacterium Wolbachia in the laboratories of the Institut Pasteur of New Caledonia requires the use of human blood samples for mosquito gorging. The objective of the research is to generate, maintain and amplify Aedes aegypti Caledonian lineages carrying the bacterium Wolbachia for the planned insect release program in Noumea. The establishment of Wolbachia in Aedes aegypti populations in Noumea should lead to the reduction of active transmission of dengue, Zika and chikungunya in the municipality.