Wolbachia-based suppression of an Aedes polynesiensis field population: a vector control strategy to augment the lymphatic filariasis elimination campaign

Lymphatic filariasis (LF), a painful and disfiguring mosquito-borne disease, is the leading cause of disability in the Western Pacific. Mass drug administration (MDA) has effectively reduced LF prevalence. However, historical evidence suggests that the current effort to eliminate LF in the South Pacific is at risk in some regions if it continues to rely solely upon MDA strategies. This is because the primary vector Ae. polynesiensis is a particularly efficient LF vector in areas of low-level microfilaremia. This negative density-dependant transmission complicates the MDA approach. To strengthen the existing MDA program a vector control program is also needed in some regions of the South Pacific. A possible strategy for vector control is the use of Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT) or cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) which causes embryonic mortality in crosses between individuals of the same species with different Wolbachia infection status. Here we will present the results of Ae. polynesiensis population monitoring on multiple islands in French Polynesia, including one island that received multiple, inundative releases of cytoplasmically incompatible males. We will provide data relevant to the production, delivery and assessment of released males. To examine for an impact on the targeted population, field collected females were monitored for egg hatch and insemination; broods that did not hatch were interpreted as having mated with an incompatible male. A successful demonstration is that female sterilization through cytoplasmic incompatible male releases will suppress or eliminate the mosquito population.