Project Wolbachia to be expanded to 4 new areas in December

The initiative to control the spread of the Aedes mosquito population by releasing lab-grown male Wolbachia mosquitoes will be extended to four more areas in December.

- Fatimah Mujibah

Project Wolbachia will be expanded to sites in Marsiling, Woodlands and Kaki Bukit-Kembangan from Dec 16, and in Bedok from Dec 17, increasing its total coverage from 580,000 households to 660,000 households in Singapore.

This puts the initiative on track to protect 50 per cent of all households here by end-2026, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said on Nov 24.

Under the project, lab-grown male mosquitoes carrying the Wolbachia bacteria are released in high-risk dengue areas.

When these male mosquitoes, which do not bite, mate with females, the eggs produced will not hatch, leading to a reduction in the mosquito population over time.