Tens of thousands of genetically modified (GMO) mosquitoes have been released in Djibouti in an effort 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 female offspring before they reach maturity.
Only female mosquitoes bite and transmit malaria and other viral diseases.
It is the first time such mosquitoes have been released in East Africa and the second time in the continent.
The release is part of the Djibouti Friendly Mosquito Program which was started two years ago to stop the spread of 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 close to 30 malaria cases. Since then, malaria cases have risen exponentially in the country to 73,000 by 2020.
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The species is now present in six other African countries – Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Sudan, Nigeria and Ghana.
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If successful, larger field trials and eventual operational deployment of the mosquitoes will continue until next year in the country.
