PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry will release mosquitoes infected with the Wolbachia micro-organism in an identified area in Selangor to see its impact on reducing dengue cases in the country, said minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam. The method was introduced in January last year by the Institute for Medical Research in collaboration with Lancaster University, United Kingdom, he said. He said the eggs did not carry the dengue virus and thus prevented the spread of the disease. "The Wolbachia will block the dengue virus from replicating within the mosquito," Dr Noor Hisham was quoted as saying. Wolbachia is a micro-organism that lives naturally in the reproductive organs of insects and exists in about 60% of insects except the Aedes Aegypti mosquito.

Source: The Star February 06, 2017 09:33 UTC