World-first trials aimed at eliminating dengue fever are set to begin in Cairns.
Project leader , of The University of Queensland鈥檚 , this week welcomed the newly recruited research field team in Cairns at the opening of the international project鈥檚 first office.
鈥淭his is a very exciting day for me and for the other 30 or so scientists and researchers working on our project around the world,鈥� Professor O鈥橬eill said.
鈥淲e are marking another major milestone after 15 years of successful laboratory research. With the skills and experience of these field officers we can now take our research to the next stage.
鈥淲e hope to provide a real solution to reduce the global burden of dengue fever.鈥�
In September, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority gave the project approval to proceed to field trials at Yorkeys Knob and Gordonvale near Cairns over the coming wet season.
The 鈥淓liminate Dengue鈥� program aims to control dengue by stopping mosquitoes passing the virus to humans.
Under the project, strains of the Wolbachia bacterium are introduced to the mosquito population, blocking virus transmission.
The project is the first of its kind in the search for a permanent solution to dengue fever and is unique in that the method will be self-sustaining once established.
The project鈥檚 first field implementation team will be based at the new Grafton Street office in Cairns. They will work to suppress the wild mosquito population over the coming weeks before releasing the Wolbachia Aedes-aegypti from January 2011.
The field team is led by Brian Montgomery, formerly of Queensland Health, and includes members from Brazil, Brisbane, Gordonvale and Yorkeys Knob.
鈥淭he team鈥檚 first task is to recruit project supporters from the field site areas,鈥� Mr Montgomery said.
鈥淲e are encouraging all residents of Yorkeys Knob and Gordonvale to call us on 1800 811 054 to register their support. 鈥淥nly with the prior approval of householders will we enter yards to manually reduce the number of wild mosquitoes before we release the Wolbachia Aedes aegypti between January and March next year.鈥�
The objective of the 2011 field trial is to determine how well the Wolbachia bacteria establishes within the wild mosquito population.
is an international collaboration involving research institutions in Australia, Vietnam, Thailand, USA and Brazil.
The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health is funding the project as part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation鈥檚 鈥淕rand Challenges in Global Health鈥� initiative.
The Queensland and Australian governments also have contributed funding.
If the Cairns trials are successful, the researchers hope to repeat the trials at a large field site in Vietnam towards the end of 2011.
The project team can be contacted on 1800 811 054 any time, or through its office at Suite 11, 36 Grafton Street, Cairns.
More details are on the project website at www.eliminatedengue.com
Media: Tracey Franchi, 国产探花 School of Biological Sciences, ph +61 7 336 54831, or for the project team, Helen Cook, 0439 878070
