Tom L. Schmidt, Nicholas H. Barton, Gordana Rašić, Andrew P. Turley, Brian L. Montgomery, Inaki Iturbe-Ormaetxe, Peter E. Cook, Peter A. Ryan, Scott A. Ritchie, Ary A. Hoffmann, Scott L. O’Neill, Michael Turelli
Local introduction and heterogeneous spatial spread of dengue-suppressing Wolbachia through an urban population of Aedes aegypti
PLOS Biology
This study examines the frequency of Wolbachia carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, following releases in three locations in Cairns, Australia in 2013. The study found that Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes spread at about 100-200 metres per year in the two larger sites, but that there was little evidence of such spread in the smaller area, even after two years. This suggests that over time, strategic releases may be enough for mosquitoes infected with the dengue-suppressing bacteria to spread across large cities.