Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — The Jeddah Municipality recently launched a project to use environmentally friendly technologies to combat dengue fever, as part of its environmental preservation initiative.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease that has rapidly spread in all regions of WHO in recent years. Dengue virus is transmitted by female mosquitoes mainly of the species Aedes aegypti.

The project plans to use environmentally friendly mosquitoes in order to reduce the number of mosquitoes that transmit the dengue virus.

This method was trialed and proven to successful in a number of countries that have suffered from this problem, such as Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Indonesia.

The initial trial of this method was done in Indonesia by using Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes. The mosquitoes infected with "miraculous" bacteria reduce the insect's ability to spread dengue.

The trial took place in Yogyakarta city, Indonesia, and is being expanded in the hope of eradicating the virus. The World Mosquito Program team said it could be a solution to a virus that has spread around the world.

The Jeddah project aims to find solutions that preserve public health, limit the spread of diseases in society, and provide a pure environment free of chemical pesticides.

The project comes within the joint national efforts to improve the quality of life in cooperation with the Public Health Authority ‘Weqaya’ and the King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST).