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. 2023 Nov 30;17(11):e0011642.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0011642. eCollection 2023 Nov.

Large-scale releases and establishment of wMel Wolbachia in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes throughout the Cities of Bello, Medellín and Itagüí, Colombia

Iván Darío Velez  1 , Alexander Uribe  1 , Jovany Barajas  1 , Sandra Uribe  1 , Sandra Ángel  1 , Juan David Suaza-Vasco  1 , Maria Camila Mejia Torres  1 , María Patricia Arbeláez  1 , Eduardo Santacruz-Sanmartin  1 , Lorena Duque  1 , Luis Martínez  1 , Tania Posada  1 , Ana Cristina Patiño  1 , Sandra Milena Gonzalez  1 , Ana Lucía Velez  1 , Jennifer Ramírez  1 , Marlene Salazar  1 , Sandra Gómez  1 , Jorge E Osorio  2 , Inaki Iturbe-Ormaetxe  2 , Yi Dong  2 , Frederico C Muzzi  2 , Edwige Rances  2 , Petrina H Johnson  2 , Ruth Smithyman  2 , Bruno Col  2 , Benjamin R Green  2 , Tibor Frossard  2 , Jack Brown-Kenyon  2 , D Albert Joubert  2 , Nelson Grisales  2 , Scott A Ritchie  2 , Jai A Denton  2 , Jeremie R L Gilles  2 , Katherine L Anders  2 , Simon C Kutcher  2 , Peter A Ryan  2 , Scott L O'Neill  2
Affiliations

Large-scale releases and establishment of wMel Wolbachia in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes throughout the Cities of Bello, Medellín and Itagüí, Colombia

Iván Darío Velez et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. .

Erratum in

  • Correction: Large-scale releases and establishment of wMel Wolbachia in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes throughout the Cities of Bello, Medellín and Itagüí, Colombia.
    Darío Velez I, Uribe A, Barajas J, Uribe S, Ángel S, David Suaza-Vasco J, Sebastian Duran Ahumada J, Camila Mejia Torres M, Patricia Arbeláez M, Santacruz-Sanmartin E, Duque L, Martínez L, Posada T, Cristina Patiño A, Milena Gonzalez S, Lucía Velez A, Ramírez J, Salazar M, Gómez S, Osorio JE, Iturbe-Ormaetxe I, Dong Y, Muzzi FC, Rances E, Johnson PH, Smithyman R, Col B, Green BR, Frossard T, Brown-Kenyon J, Joubert DA, Grisales N, Ritchie SA, Denton JA, Gilles JRL, Anders KL, Kutcher SC, Ryan PA, O'Neill SL. Darío Velez I, et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2025 Mar 11;19(3):e0012936. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0012936. eCollection 2025 Mar. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2025. PMID: 40067786 Free PMC article.

Abstract

Background: The wMel strain of Wolbachia has been successfully introduced into Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and has been shown to reduce the transmission of dengue and other Aedes-borne viruses. Here we report the entomological results from phased, large-scale releases of Wolbachia infected Ae. aegypti mosquitoes throughout three contiguous cities located in the Aburrá Valley, Colombia.

Methodology/principal findings: Local wMel Wolbachia-infected Ae. aegypti mosquitoes were generated and then released in an initial release pilot area in 2015-2016, which resulted in the establishment of Wolbachia in the local mosquito populations. Subsequent large-scale releases, mainly involving vehicle-based releases of adult mosquitoes along publicly accessible roads and streets, were undertaken across 29 comunas throughout Bello, Medellín and Itagüí Colombia between 2017-2022. In 9 comunas these were supplemented by egg releases that were undertaken by staff or community members. By the most recent monitoring, Wolbachia was found to be stable and established at consistent levels in local mosquito populations (>60% prevalence) in the majority (67%) of areas.

Conclusion: These results, from the largest contiguous releases of wMel Wolbachia mosquitoes to date, highlight the operational feasibility of implementing the method in large urban settings. Based on results from previous studies, we expect that Wolbachia establishment will be sustained long term. Ongoing monitoring will confirm Wolbachia persistence in local mosquito populations and track its establishment in the remaining areas.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Release areas within Bello, Medellín and Itagüí.
Dark blue, light blue and yellow shading denote Bello, Medellín and Itagüí respectively (map produced in QGIS version 3.28.3 using administrative boundaries for the municipal governments of Bello (https://www.datos.gov.co/Ordenamiento-Territorial/Divisi-n-Pol-tico-Administrativa-Barrios-Bello-Ant/pnhh-ccwd), Medellín (https://data.metabolismofcities.org/library/maps/35283/view/), and Itagüí (https://www.datos.gov.co/Ordenamiento-Territorial/Localizaci-n-Geogr-fica-de-los-Barrios-del-Municip/didi-drqa)). The initial París release area is coloured orange with the insert showing a close up of the area. The striped pattern within the insert indicates the initial trial.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Wolbachia establishment in París comuna, Colombia.
The lines (left axis) represent the percent of Ae. aegypti screened that were infected with wMel Wolbachia in the initial release area in the París neighbourhood, shown with an orange line, and the wider París comuna excluding the initial release area, shown with a yellow line. Yellow shading indicates release periods in the París neighbourhood. Green shading indicates release periods in the wider París comuna. The stacked bars (right axis) indicate the number of Ae. aegypti screened within the París neighbourhood (light blue) and in the wider París comuna (dark blue). Monitoring events with less than five screened mosquitoes were omitted.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Wolbachia infection prevalence over time in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in ten deployment areas of Bello, Colombia.
The orange line (left axis) represents the percentage of Ae. aegypti tested that were infected with wMel Wolbachia. Phase 1 releases, using the wMel-COL line are shown with yellow shading. Phase 2 releases, using the wMel-COL2 line, are shown with green shading. The blue bars (right axis) indicate the number of Ae. aegypti tested. Months with fewer than five Ae. aegypti tested have been omitted (n = 3 in Guasimalito; n = 2 in Santa Ana; n = 1 in La Cumbre).
Fig 4
Fig 4. Wolbachia infection prevalence over time in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in 12 deployment areas of Medellín, Colombia.
The orange line (left axis) represents the percentage of Ae. aegypti tested that were infected with wMel Wolbachia. Phase 1 releases using the wMel-COL line are shown with yellow shading. Phase 2 releases, using the wMel-COL2 line release periods are shown with orange and green shading. The blue bars (right axis) indicate the number of Ae. aegypti tested. To aid visualisation, months with greater than 1000 Ae. aegypti tested were capped at 1000 (n = 3 in Guayabal; n = 1 in La Candelaria).
Fig 5
Fig 5. Wolbachia introgression in the Medellín case control study, in the Aburrá Valley, Colombia.
The orange line (left axis) represents the percent of Ae. aegypti screened that were infected with wMel Wolbachia. Phase one releases, using the wMel-COL line, are shown with yellow shading. Phase two releases, using the wMel-COL2 line are shown with green shading. The blue bars (right axis) indicate the number of Ae. aegypti screened. Months with fewer than five Ae. aegypti tested have been omitted (n = 1 in Popular; n = 1 in Santa Cruz).
Fig 6
Fig 6. Wolbachia introgression in Itagüí, Colombia.
The orange line (left axis) represents the percent of Ae. aegypti screened that were infected with wMel Wolbachia. Green shading indicates release periods using the wMel-COL2 line. The blue bars (right axis) indicate the number of Ae. aegypti screened. Monitoring events with less than five screened mosquitoes are omitted.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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