SINGAPORE: Male Wolbachia-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes will be released at four additional sites across Singapore next month to help combat dengue, Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Janil Puthucheary said on Monday (Nov 24).
From Dec 16, Project Wolbachia will expand to cover Marsiling and more areas of Woodlands and Kaki Bukit-Kembangan, followed by more areas of Bedok from Dec 17.
This will bring the total Wolbachia coverage in Singapore to 660,000 households, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said
In a video posted on social media, Dr Puthucheary said Singapore is on track to release Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes to cover 50 per cent of all households or 800,000 households in Singapore by the end of 2026. This was first announced by Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu in November last year.
Under Project Wolbachia, male Wolbachia-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are released to mate with the female Aedes mosquitoes. The eggs that are produced do not hatch.
Male mosquitoes do not bite and cannot transmit diseases, as they feed only on plant juices, such as nectar.