[Cet article a initialement été publié le 24 juin 2024]
Despite its tiny size, the mosquito is the deadliest animal in the world. It has many diseases that can be transmitted to human beings. There are viral diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, Japanese encephalitis and Western Nile fever.
These insects that have invaded the whole planet also transmit parasitic diseases such as malaria and lymphatic filariasis. Parasites are directly transmitted to humans by the bite of infected mosquitoes.
Hawaii red IIWI has a 90 % chance of dying if it is stung by an infected mosquito
However, humans are not the only ones to suffer from mosquito bites. These insects are also a scourge for many animal species. In Hawaii, for example, rare and endemic birds of the archipelago risk extinction because of mosquitoes.
In total, 33 species of Hawaii passerines have already disappeared. Most of the 17 remaining species are today strongly threatened. Experts even believe that some may disappear within a year if no measure is taken.
Hawaii birds are decimated by avian malaria which is transmitted by mosquitoes. For example, the red IIWI has 90 % chances of dying when it is stung by an infected mosquito.
250,000 mosquitoes are released each week by a helicopter
The Ministry of Land and Natural Resources of Hawaii therefore found an unconventional solution to try to save the birds of the archipelago. It consists in releaseing millions of mosquitoes in the wild to protect birds from infected mosquitoes.
It is obviously not any mosquito. These are insects. Each week, a helicopter releases 250,000 male mosquitoes. 10 million mosquitoes have already been released since the start of the operation.
These mosquitoes have a natural bacteria strain. This prevents the hatching of the eggs of wild females with which males mate.
Mosquitoes replace pesticides?
It is more precisely the technique of incompatible insects (ITT). Female mosquitoes only mate once in their lifetime. If they only lay eggs that cannot hatch, the overall population will necessarily reduce over time.
This is not the first time that ITT has been used successfully in the world. Mosquito populations in China and Mexico have already been reduced in this way. Similar programs have also been launched in California and Florida.
As Dr. Nigel Beebe explains from Queensland University, “it is much better than using pesticides that have significant unclean effects. Especially when it comes to the conservation of species in critical danger ”.
However, ITT does not always guarantee the elimination of long -term mosquitoes. This solution is more effective in archipelagos than in continental countries where mosquitoes migrate more easily from one country to another.
Avian malaria arrived in Hawaii in the 1800s with American and European ships
Hawaii endemic birds are all the more vulnerable to avian malaria as they have not known it during their evolution. The disease was effectively transmitted by mosquitoes introduced for the first time by European and American ships in the 1800s.
The birds of the archipelago therefore have no natural immunity in the face of avian malaria. The remaining populations are more or less temporarily protected because they live at high altitudes at more than 1,200 or 1,500 meters above sea level.
It is too cold there for infected mosquitoes. However, this is only a matter of time before they reached these altitudes because of global warming.
Source: The Guardian
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