Associate Professor Ng Lee Ching, National Environment Agency
Associate Professor Ng Lee Ching, National Environment Agency
28 November 2024
Morning Shot: A buzzing solution - How effective is Project Wolbachia amid climatic changes?
By 2026, Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes released by the National Environment Agency (NEA) will be buzzing through 50 per cent of all households across the island.
That’s part of NEA’s efforts to expand Project Wolbachia, to provide coverage to areas at risk of large dengue outbreaks. Under the project, which was first introduced in 2016, male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that carry the Wolbachia bacteria are released to mate with the female Aedes mosquitoes. The eggs that are produced do not hatch.
On this episode of Morning Shot, Ng Lee Ching, Group Director of the Environmental Health Institute, NEA shares her insights on how effective the project has been so far, how recent weather changes might affect mosquito breeding cycles, and what the public should look out for.
Presented by: Audrey Siek & Emaad Akhtar
Produced & Edited by: Yeo Kai Ting (ykaiting@sph.com.sg)
Photo credits: Gin Tay
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Listen To Her Previous Podcasts:
17 May 2023
Morning Shot: Mosquitoes released under Project Wolbachia do not bite, but how well has the expanded initiative worked so far?
Did you know that one million residents across Singapore are now covered under Project Wolbachia? This comes after the expansion of the number of sites covered under the initiative as part of efforts to stem the transmission of dengue fever.
For those who aren't familiar with the initiative, it’s a pilot using male mosquitoes infected with the Wolbachia bacteria to suppress the population of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
As we enter warmer months of the year when dengue transmission is typically higher, dengue expert, Associate Professor Ng Lee Ching, Group Director of the Environmental Health Institute at National Environment Agency elaborates on challenges of the project and how effective it has been in curbing dengue cases in Singapore so far.
Presenter: Lynlee Foo
This podcast is produced and edited by Yeo Kai Ting (ykaiting@sph.com.sg)
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