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Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
National
RFI

Reunion Island deploys sterile mosquitoes to stop the spread of disease

Releasing sterilised male mosquitoes can cut tiger mosquito populations by up to 55 percent and may help stop dengue and chikungunya outbreaks. © AFP - MANJUNATH KIRAN

Tiger mosquitoes on France's Reunion Island are being driven back by a new method that releases sterilised males into the wild – a technique scientists say could halt epidemics of diseases spread by the insects' bites, including dengue and chikungunya.

Mosquito populations have fallen by around 40 percent in targeted areas within a year, after researchers released sterilised male mosquitoes that mate with females whose eggs never hatch.

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