Marshall Islands Launch Releases of Oxitec Friendly™ Mosquitoes to Fight the Invasive Dengue Mosquito, Aedes aegypti, as Part of Ground-breaking Public-Private Partnership
PRESS RELEASE
Marshall Islands Launch Releases of Oxitec Friendly™ Mosquitoes to Fight the Invasive Dengue Mosquito, Aedes aegypti, as Part of Ground-breaking Public-Private Partnership
The pilot phase of a groundbreaking project to combat the invasive Aedes aegypti mosquito has been launched on the island of Ebeye.
The project is a partnership between the Marshall Islands Government, the Pacific Island Health Officers’ Association, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Oxitec.
Following the successful conclusion of a preparatory phase of capacity-building, data collection and community engagement, just-add-water Friendly™ mosquito egg devices will be placed in communities to target Aedes aegypti, which has spread globally and is the primary vector of dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever.
Ebeye, Republic of the Marshall Islands, 23 July 2024 – Oxitec Ltd, the leading developer of insect-based biological solutions to control pests that transmit disease, destroy crops and harm livestock, today announced the launch of a new pilot phase of a groundbreaking public-private partnership in the Republic of the Marshall Islands to fight the invasive Aedes aegypti mosquito. This “Man Nam Ne” project - a partnership between the Ministry of Health (MoHHS), the Marshall Islands government, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Pacific Island Health Officers’ Association (PIHOA) and Oxitec - will see the deployment of Friendly™ Aedes aegypti mosquitoes on the island of Ebeye, where communities have suffered serious dengue outbreaks.
The Marshall Islands government has granted regulatory approval for releases of Oxitec’s Friendly™ mosquitoes. These will be conducted in communities on the island of Ebeye, the world’s most densely populated island, home to 15,000 people. Since the late 1980s, dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases have burdened communities in the Marshall Islands. In 2019, a dengue epidemic forced the government to declare a State of Health Emergency.
When assessing vector management tools available to address the invasive Aedes aegypti mosquito, Marshall Islands government experts selected Oxitec’s Friendly™ Aedes aegypti solution as the most sustainable and operationally effective option, well-suited for deployment in the islands’ unique ecosystem. This pilot is equipping the Marshall Islands with Friendly™ Aedes aegypti solution and the technical training and support to integrate them into the country’s current vector control efforts.
This new pilot phase has launched following several months of community engagement on Ebeye by the Man Nam Ne project team, including in schools and with church leaders. It also comes after the successful completion of knowledge transfer and capacity building of local field operations team members on Ebeye over the last year. Extensive field surveillance data collection has also taken place in preparation for the pilot, with collection methods moving from paper-based to digital.
Oxitec’s just-add-water solution produces non-biting Friendly™ male mosquitoes over time, which mate with invasive, biting Aedes aegypti females. Their female offspring cannot survive, which means fewer biting female mosquitoes in the following generations. Already deployed in the US and Brazil, in urban pilots in the city of Indaiatuba in Brazil, deployments of the Friendly™ Aedes aegypti in densely populated communities led to up to 96% suppression of Aedes aegypti populations. The Friendly™ Aedes aegypti product is now serving cities, communities and businesses across Brazil. This solution controls only this particular mosquito species, without harming beneficial insects such as bees and butterflies.
Oxitec Chief Executive Officer Grey Frandsen noted that “We are honoured that Oxitec’s Friendly™ solution was selected by the Marshall Islands government to help protect residents of Ebeye. We’re excited about what this public-private partnership of world-class organisations can achieve, as we collectively set our sights on Aedes aegypti, which poses such a deadly threat to communities across the Pacific. Building on an important year of knowledge-transfer and capacity-building in Ebeye, we’re now on the path to delivering impact in Marshall Islands communities.”
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Oxitec is the leading developer of biological solutions to control pests that transmit disease, destroy crops and harm livestock. Founded in 2002 at the University of Oxford, Oxitec is led by a passionate team comprised of 15 nationalities and is supported by world-class public, private and non-profit partners.
Learn more at oxitec.com.