Djibouti releases GMO mosquitoes to strengthen the fight against malaria

Tens of thousands of genetically modified (GMO) mosquitoes have been released in Djibouti to try to stop the spread of an invasive species that transmits malaria.

The friendly, non-biting male Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes, developed by Oxitec, a UK-based biotechnology company, carry a gene that kills females before they reach maturity.

Only females bite and transmit malaria and other viral diseases.

This is the first time such mosquitoes have been released in East Africa and the second time on the continent.

Similar technology has been used successfully in Brazil, the Cayman Islands, Panama and India, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

More than 1 billion such mosquitoes have been released worldwide since 2019, according to the CDC.

The first batch of mosquitoes was released into the open air on Thursday in Ambouli, a suburb of Djibouti City.

This is a pilot phase as part of a partnership between Oxitec Ltd, the government of Djibouti and Association Mutualis, an NGO.

“We have designed good mosquitoes that do not bite or transmit disease. When we release them, they seek to mate with wild-type female mosquitoes,” Gray Frandsen, director of Oxitec, told the BBC.

Lab-produced mosquitoes carry a “self-limiting” gene that prevents females’ offspring from surviving to adulthood when they mate.

Only their male descendants survive and eventually become extinct, according to the scientists behind the project.

Unlike the sterile male Anopheles colluzzi mosquitoes released in Burkina Faso in 2018, friendly stephensi mosquitoes can still have offspring.

This release is part of the Djibouti Friendly Mosquito program, launched two years ago to stop the spread of the Anopheles stephensi, an invasive species of mosquito first detected in the country in 2012.

The country was then on the verge of eliminating malaria, when it recorded almost 30 cases of malaria. Since then, malaria cases have increased exponentially in the country, reaching 73,000 cases by 2020.

The species is now present in six other African countries: Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Sudan, Nigeria and Ghana.

The Stephensi species, native to Asia, is very difficult to control. It is also considered an urban mosquito that has outwitted traditional methods of control. It bites both day and night and is resistant to chemical insecticides.

Dr. Abdoulilah Ahmed Abdi, Djibouti’s presidential health adviser, told the Financial Times news site that the government’s goal was “to urgently reverse malaria transmission in Djibouti, which has intensified over the last decade.

“Not so long ago, malaria was extremely rare in our communities,” said Dr Bouh Abdi Khaireh, director of the Mutualis Association.

“Today, we see malaria patients suffering daily across Djibouti. There is an urgent need for new interventions.”

Organizers say it was easy to implement the new malaria project because of the small size of Djibouti, a largely urban country of just over a million people.

“Malaria is a serious disease that really affects our health. People are really waiting to see how these friendly mosquitoes will help us win the fight,” Saada Ismael, a malaria survivor who helped prepare the the community.

Genetically modified organisms have always been a controversial subject in Africa. Environmental groups and activists have warned of the consequences for ecosystems and existing food chains.

But Oxitec’s Frandsen says no adverse effects on the environment or human health have been seen in more than a decade, during which the biological solutions developer released a billion modified mosquitoes.

“Our goal is to make sure that whatever we release into the environment is safe and highly effective. There is no impact on the environment. They are non-toxic, non-allergenic and species specific.” , he added.

Genetically modified genes are not found in mosquito saliva and, according to Oxitec, even a person bitten by a mosquito will not be exposed to the effects of the genes.

“This new solution may be controversial, but it represents the future,” said Dr. Abdi, presidential health advisor.

If successful, larger field trials and possible operational deployment of the mosquitoes will continue until next year in the country.

Malaria is a deadly disease that kills at least 600,000 people worldwide each year. According to the World Health Organization, nine out of ten deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa.