The World Mosquito Program is working in the Nha Trang region, on Vietnam’s South Central Coast to help protect communities from mosquito-borne diseases like dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.
After conducting laboratory studies to examine the impact of Wolbachia on dengue and chikungunya viruses in Vietnam, and engaging with the community to explain our Wolbachia method and gain their acceptance, we released Wolbachia mosquitoes on Tri Nguyen Island in 2013 and within the community of Vinh Luong in 2018.
We are now evaluating both the levels of Wolbachia in the mosquito population and the impact of Wolbachia on the transmission of dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases.
Our analysis of disease data from local health authorities indicates there is lower dengue incidence in the release area than in the nearby urban centre of Nha Trang since completion of releases, whereas prior to releases these areas were highly comparable in their dengue epidemic cycles.
Vinh Luong
Since the signing of the project agreement in 2017 between Monash University and Vietnam’s National Institute of Hygiene & Epidemiology (NIHE), our teams have engaged with the community to explain how the Wolbachia method works to prevent mosquito-borne diseases.
As always, community engagement is a critical part of the project. We needed to connect with people from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds, experiences and ages, and ability to access information. So, during early 2018, we worked to engage with different levels of the community through various media channels. In Vinh Luong, public acceptance of the project (prior to release of mosquitoes) was 97 per cent.
We released Wolbachia mosquitoes across the project areas in mid-2018 and we are now collecting data on the incidence of dengue and chikungunya in the proposed release areas.
The local community has been enthusiastically supporting the project in Vinh Luong and shows an increasing appetite for expansion across the broader region.
Tri Nguyen Island
During the project’s initial two phases – the first from 2006-2008 and the second from 2012-2015 – we connected with people across a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds, experiences and ages, and ability to access information.
On Tri Nguyen Island, public acceptance of the project (prior to release of mosquitoes) was 97.2 per cent.
We released Wolbachia mosquitoes across the project area in 2013 and 2014.
Progress updates
We’ve been working with communities in Vietnam since 2006 to help prevent mosquito-borne diseases. Read our progress updates to see our latest news.
