The World Mosquito Program’s Director of Impact Assessment, Professor Cameron Simmons attended an official event in Noumea in March 2018 to sign a collaboration agreement with the Government of New Caledonia, the City of Noumea and the Institute Pasteur in New Caledonia.

The aim of the collaboration is to pilot the introduction of mosquitoes carrying naturally occurring Wolbachia bacteria to protect communities in New Caledonia from mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, Zika and chikungunya. Pioneered by Australian scientists from the World Mosquito Program, releases of Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes will begin in the city of Nouméa later this year. During the event, Professor Simmons addressed the importance of the pilot as a step towards providing local communities with long-term protection from mosquito-borne diseases.

“We are extremely pleased to be working with our partners to bring our long-term solution to the dengue burden in New Caledonia. We look forward to rolling out the program to communities in the city of Nouméa,” says Prof Simmons. “With mosquito-borne viruses posing a global health threat, our program provides an affordable solution to strengthen health security in the region.”

New Caledonia is the eleventh country to become part of the global not-for-profit initiative, joining Brazil, Colombia, Australia, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Vanuatu and Kiribati.

Read more about our Wolbachia method.