{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,30]],"date-time":"2026-10-30T07:20:59Z","timestamp":1793344859364,"version":"4.5.0"},"update-to":[{"DOI":"10.12688\/gatesopenres.13061.1","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2020,4,8]],"date-time":"2020-04-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1586304000000}}],"reference-count":34,"publisher":"F1000 Research Ltd","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,4,8]],"date-time":"2020-04-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1586304000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000865","name":"Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["OPP1180815"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["OPP1180815"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000865","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000865","name":"Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["OPP1153619"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["OPP1153619"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000865","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003550","name":"Queensland Government","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["70134"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["70134"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003550","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000925","name":"National Health and Medical Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["1037003"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1037003"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000925","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Gillespie Foundation"},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000925","name":"National Health and Medical Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["1132412"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1132412"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000925","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Wellcome Trust","award":["102591\u200b"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["102591\u200b"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/029chgv08","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000925","name":"National Health and Medical Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["1044698"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1044698"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000925","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000925","name":"National Health and Medical Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["1118640"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1118640"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000925","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["gatesopenresearch.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Gates Open Res"],"abstract":"\n Background:<\/ns4:bold>\n The\n w<\/ns4:italic>\n Mel strain of\n Wolbachia<\/ns4:italic>\n has been successfully introduced into\n Aedes aegypti<\/ns4:italic>\n mosquitoes and subsequently shown in laboratory studies to reduce transmission of a range of viruses including dengue, Zika, chikungunya, yellow fever, and Mayaro viruses that cause human disease. Here we report the entomological and epidemiological outcomes of staged deployment of\n Wolbachia<\/ns4:italic>\n across nearly all significant dengue transmission risk areas in Australia.\n <\/ns4:p>\n \n Methods:<\/ns4:bold>\n The\u00a0\n w<\/ns4:italic>\n Mel strain of\u00a0\n Wolbachia<\/ns4:italic>\n \u00a0was backcrossed into the local\u00a0\n Aedes aegypti<\/ns4:italic>\n \u00a0genotype (Cairns and Townsville backgrounds) and mosquitoes were released in the field by staff or via community assisted methods. Mosquito monitoring was undertaken and mosquitoes were screened for the presence of\u00a0\n Wolbachia<\/ns4:italic>\n . Dengue case notifications were used to track dengue incidence in each location before and after releases.\n <\/ns4:p>\n \n Results:<\/ns4:bold>\n Empirical analyses of the\n Wolbachia<\/ns4:italic>\n mosquito releases, including data on the density, frequency and duration of\n Wolbachia<\/ns4:italic>\n mosquito releases, indicate that\n Wolbachia<\/ns4:italic>\n can be readily established in local mosquito populations, using a variety of deployment options and over short release durations (mean release period 11 weeks, range 2-22 weeks). Importantly,\n Wolbachia<\/ns4:italic>\n frequencies have remained stable in mosquito populations since releases for up to 8 years. Analysis of dengue case notifications data demonstrates near-elimination of local dengue transmission for the past five years in locations where\n Wolbachia<\/ns4:italic>\n has been established. The regression model estimate of\n Wolbachia<\/ns4:italic>\n intervention effect from interrupted time series analyses of case notifications data prior to and after releases, indicated a 96% reduction in dengue incidence in\n Wolbachia<\/ns4:italic>\n treated populations (95% confidence interval: 84 \u2013 99%).\n <\/ns4:p>\n \n Conclusion:<\/ns4:bold>\n Deployment of the\n w<\/ns4:italic>\n Mel strain of\n Wolbachia<\/ns4:italic>\n into local\n Ae. aegypti<\/ns4:italic>\n populations across the Australian regional cities of Cairns and most smaller regional communities with a past history of dengue has resulted in the reduction of local dengue transmission across all deployment areas.\n <\/ns4:p>","DOI":"10.12688\/gatesopenres.13061.2","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,4,8]],"date-time":"2020-04-08T10:35:06Z","timestamp":1586342106000},"page":"1547","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.12688\/gatesopenres.crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":168,"title":["Establishment of wMel Wolbachia in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and reduction of local dengue transmission in Cairns and surrounding locations in northern Queensland, Australia"],"prefix":"10.12688","volume":"3","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0674-4441","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Peter A.","family":"Ryan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrew P.","family":"Turley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Geoff","family":"Wilson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tim P.","family":"Hurst","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kate","family":"Retzki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jack","family":"Brown-Kenyon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lauren","family":"Hodgson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nichola","family":"Kenny","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Helen","family":"Cook","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Brian L.","family":"Montgomery","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christopher J.","family":"Paton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Scott A.","family":"Ritchie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ary A.","family":"Hoffmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nicholas P.","family":"Jewell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stephanie K.","family":"Tanamas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0485-5826","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Katherine L.","family":"Anders","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cameron 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Research"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/gatesopenresearch.org\/articles\/3-1547\/v2\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/gatesopenresearch.org\/articles\/3-1547\/v2\/pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/gatesopenresearch.org\/articles\/3-1547\/v2\/iparadigms","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2020,4,8]],"date-time":"2020-04-08T10:35:12Z","timestamp":1586342112000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/gatesopenresearch.org\/articles\/3-1547\/v2"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,4,8]]},"references-count":34,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.12688\/gatesopenres.13061.2","relation":{},"ISSN":["2572-4754"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2572-4754","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,4,8]]},"assertion":[{"value":"Indexed","URL":"https:\/\/gatesopenresearch.org\/articles\/3-1547\/v2#article-reports","order":0,"name":"referee-status","label":"Referee status","group":{"name":"current-referee-status","label":"Current Referee Status"}},{"value":"10.21956\/gatesopenres.14191.r27997, Jeffrey R. Powell, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA, 08 Oct 2019, version 1, indexed","URL":"https:\/\/gatesopenresearch.org\/articles\/3-1547\/v1#referee-response-27997","order":0,"name":"referee-response-27997","label":"Referee Report","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"Peter Ryan<\/b>; \nPosted: 21 Jan 2020<\/i>; \nResponse to Reviewer 1:<\/b>   1. The following has been added to the Results and Discussion section:   "Overall, short-term releases of between 5-23 weeks involving either egg or adult stages, resulted in the establishment of \nWolbachia<\/i> in mosquito populations across all release areas. There were no clear differences between egg or adult releases in terms of \nWolbachia<\/i> establishment. The overall duration of egg and adult release periods were similar (average 12 weeks duration for both egg and adult releases), although egg releases were generally undertaken every 2 weeks compared with weekly adult mosquito releases. Although \nAe. aegypti<\/i> populations varied seasonally across the study areas, there were no clear seasonal effects on \nWolbachia<\/i> establishment, indicating that under the north Queensland conditions releases can be undertaken year round. Operationally, egg releases provided advantages over adult mosquito releases in that there was no need to rear immatures stages to adults in a local insectary. For egg releases, eggs were produced centrally in an insectary, and then transferred to the field and placed into mosquito release containers, either by staff or via community members themselves. These simple, low-cost egg release methods may represent a more scalable approach for future large-scale implementations, particularly in low resource settings where infrastructure for mass rearing of adult mosquitoes is limited."   2. Heading has been added to each figure indicating location and release type.   3. \nw<\/i>AlbB releases were undertaken as part of an independent project. Our sampling strategy using BG traps was not designed to assess the \nAe. aegypti<\/i> population size. While we detected \nw<\/i>AlbB \nAe. aegypti<\/i> in some BG traps, the geographic extent of the \nw<\/i>AlbB releases was unknown.   4. The numbers of mosquitoes collected from BG traps and screened for \nWolbachia<\/i> varied by location and by season. As each frequency graph had up to six different release locations and individual locations had between 23-145 frequency calculations, we were unable to show the sample size for each calculation. The raw data, including sample sizes, for every location and frequency calculation, were listed in the underlying data (CNS_Montoring_Results.xlsx). Overall mean sample size was 32.4 \nAe. aegypti<\/i> per collection period (median 16.0, interquartile range 6.0 - 38.0).   5. The monitoring in the five non-release areas did not specifically measure wave speed as was the aim in Schmidt \net al<\/i>., 2017. The non-release areas in the current study were either small areas (0.13 - 0.53 km\n2<\/sup>) surrounded by areas where \nWolbachia<\/i> had been released, or an isolated area (1.99 km\n2<\/sup>) separated by a main highway from a \nWolbachia<\/i> release site. The spread and establishment of \nWolbachia<\/i> in all of these areas is consistent with previous estimates of \nWolbachia<\/i> spread at 100-200m per year as previously defined by Schmidt \net al.,<\/i> 2017. As we point out in the discussion, the main implication of this is the potential for more efficient deployment strategies where "areas are left intentionally with no releases and instead rely on natural spreading of \nWolbachia<\/i>."","URL":"https:\/\/gatesopenresearch.org\/articles\/3-1547\/v2#referee-comment-3277","order":1,"name":"referee-comment-3277","label":"Referee Comment","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"10.21956\/gatesopenres.14191.r28016, Luca Facchinelli, Department of Vector Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK, 18 Oct 2019, version 1, indexed","URL":"https:\/\/gatesopenresearch.org\/articles\/3-1547\/v1#referee-response-28016","order":2,"name":"referee-response-28016","label":"Referee Report","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"Peter Ryan<\/b>; \nPosted: 21 Jan 2020<\/i>; Response to Review 2:   1. The reference to Schmidt et al. 2018 and the text below has been added to page 20.   "... and this was possibly due to barriers to \nAe. aegypti<\/i> dispersal, higher incidence of long-range \nAe. aegypti<\/i> dispersal, and intergenerational loss of \nWolbachia <\/i>(Schmidt \net al.<\/i>, 2018)."","URL":"https:\/\/gatesopenresearch.org\/articles\/3-1547\/v2#referee-comment-3278","order":3,"name":"referee-comment-3278","label":"Referee Comment","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"This work was supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation [OPP1180815] and through a grant as part the Vector-Based Transmission of Control: Discovery Research (VCTR) program of the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative [OPP1153619] managed by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. This work was also supported by the Wellcome Trust [102591], National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Program Grants [1037003 and 1132412], the Queensland Government [Project ID 70134], and the Gillespie Family Foundation. SAR and AAH were funded from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia through Research Fellowship awards [1044698 and 1118640, respectively]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.","order":4,"name":"grant-information","label":"Grant Information"},{"value":"This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.","order":0,"name":"copyright-info","label":"Copyright"}]}}