Funded by PON Ricerca e Innovazione

Vector-borne diseases are a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Culex is a genus of mosquitoes, several species of which serve as vectors of one or more important diseases of birds, humans, and other animals. The diseases they vector include arbovirus infections such as West Nile virus, Japanese encephalitis, or St. Louis encephalitis, Usutu virus but also filariasis and avian malaria. Vector-borne diseases are increasing at an alarming rate due to urbanisation, population movement, weak vector control programmes, and climate change. The World Health Organization calls for strengthening of vector control programmes in line with the Global Vector Control Response (GVCR) strategy, and many vector control programmes are transitioning to this new approach. Therefore, safe and sustainable approaches for mosquito control are critical due to the global increasing burden of mosquito-transmitted diseases. Novel control approaches based on symbionts are currently proposed to modify or suppress mosquito populations such as Wolbachia-based methods that have already achieved some success in field trials to fait Dengue disease. 

The aim of the proposal is to development of a green novel vector control measure, such as Wolbachia-infected males, in Culex mosquitoes that lack of any control strategy a part for the use of insecticides, when applicable. 

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