In April, Joinville began a new phase of the innovative Wolbachia Method. The municipality in the North of Santa Catarina is one of six cities chosen to receive the technique to combat dengue. Now, the work has entered the community engagement stage with actions in municipal and state education networks.
Joinville begins a new phase of an innovative method against dengue – Photo: Joinville City Hall/Disclosure/ND
The method strategy consists of introducing the Wolbachia bacteria into Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. This bacteria is present in 60% of insects in nature and does not cause harm to humans, but prevents mosquitoes from proliferating dengue, chikungunya and zika.
According to Joinville City Hall, community engagement is the last phase before the release of mosquitoes begins, scheduled to take place in July.
How the Wolbachia Method will work in Joinville
Mosquitoes with the bacteria, called Wolbitos, will be released in Joinville and will reproduce with local Aedes aegypti. Little by little, the prediction is that these mosquitoes will establish a new population that does not transmit dengue fever and other diseases.
This is how Niterói, in Rio de Janeiro, saw a 69% drop in dengue cases in two years. And in Australia, where it was created, there was a 96% reduction in dengue cases.
“We have worked for a long time to bring this method to Joinville and we are working to guarantee all the necessary structure and support from the City Hall so that the project has the same success that we have seen in other places in Brazil and the world”, highlights the mayor of Joinville, Adriano Silva.
The Wolbitos will be released in 17 neighborhoods in the municipality. After release, the sites will be monitored to evaluate results for approximately one year.
The choice of neighborhoods considers criteria such as the number of outbreaks and confirmed cases. The neighborhoods account for approximately 60% of Joinville’s population, they are: Aventureiro; Good view; Bom Retiro; Comasa; Costa e Silva; Hawthorns; Fatima; Forest; Guanabara; Iririú; Itaum; João Costa; Middle Hill; Paranaguamirim; Petrópolis; Ulysses Guimarães; and Vila Nova.
“The Wolbachia method brings health to the population, so the population is already a natural part of the process. It is important that the entire community knows how our Wolbitos will help reduce the transmission of arboviruses”, explains the operations leader of WMP Brazil (World Mosquito Program), Gabriel Sylvestre.
In addition to the engagement actions, the installation of a biofactory is also taking place in Joinville. The structure is under construction in a deactivated health unit, which would be demolished, in the Nova Brasília neighborhood. The site will produce Wolbitos mosquitoes that will be used in the releases.
Teams from Joinville City Hall, professionals from WMP, Fiocruz (Fundação Oswaldo Cruz), the Health Department of the State of Santa Catarina and the Ministry of Health have been working since December 2023 to implement the method in Joinville.
About the Wolbachia Method
In addition to Joinville, five other cities are receiving the method at this stage: Londrina and Foz do Iguaçu (PR); Uberlândia (MG); Presidente Prudente (SP) and Natal (RN). In previous stages, the technology has already been applied in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Niterói (RJ), Campo Grande (MS), Belo Horizonte (MG) and Petrolina (PE).
This method of controlling arboviruses was developed by the World Mosquito Program (WMP), in Australia, and is currently present in more than 20 cities in 14 countries.
