Using Wolbachia as a Biological Control Strategy for Dengue Fever: Insights from the Singaporean Experience

I-Jun Tsai, Han-Hsuan Chung, Hung-Jui Chen, Shiu-Ling Chen^*

2025 Vol.41 No.12

Correspondence Author： Shiu-Ling Chen^*

Abstract：

        Dengue fever is a globally significant mosquito-borne viral infectious disease, with over 5 million cases reported annually in 129 countries, posing a huge challenge to public health. In Taiwan, dengue fever is transmitted by Aedes aegypti or Ae. albopictus mosquitoes. When cases occur, the main strategies for prevention and control often involve immediate suppression of the vector mosquito population through clearing breeding sites and chemical spraying. However, increasing resistance of mosquitoes to chemical agents has become a global concern. Releasing mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia, utilizing their biological characteristics to control mosquito-borne diseases, is one of the novel prevention and control techniques being explored by various countries. This article introduces the biological characteristics of Wolbachia, such as cytoplasmic incompatibility, male lethality, and shortened lifespan, and explains how these characteristics are utilized in the prevention and control of mosquitoes. Using Singapore's utilization of Wolbachia to control dengue fever as an example, it illustrates Singapore's operational model in expert assessment, strategy formulation, resource integration, and effectiveness evaluation.

Keywords：dengue fever, Wolbachia, insecticide resistance, cytoplasmic incompatibility, Singapore