The World Mosquito Program is working in Colombo to protect communities from mosquito-borne diseases like dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever.
After conducting laboratory studies to examine the impact of Wolbachia on dengue and chikungunya viruses in Sri Lanka, we are now engaging with the community to explain our Wolbachia method in order to gain community acceptance.
The team plans to introduce mosquitoes with Wolbachia across parts of Colombo and rigorously evaluate the impact of Wolbachia on the transmission of dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases.
Colombo information
Following the signing of the project agreement in February 2018 between Monash University and the Ministry of Health, the project is now working to engage with the community to explain how our Wolbachia method works to prevent mosquito-borne diseases.
Community engagement is an important part of the project. We need to connect with people from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds, experiences and ages, and ability to access information. So, we are working through different media to engage across the community.
We’re also collecting data on the incidence of dengue and chikungunya in the proposed release areas. If the community engagement phase is successful and we gain public acceptance in 2019, we will release Wolbachia mosquitoes in 2020.
Progress updates
We’ve been working with communities in Sri Lanka since 2017 to help prevent mosquito-borne diseases. Read our progress updates to see our latest news.
