The Institute of Hygiene of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of the Republic, the Institute of Parasitology and the International Atomic Agency are working on it, specialist Yester Basmadjian told the press.

“The idea is to breed Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to reach the stage of, when they reach pupae, sterilize what would be the males and release them sterile into the wild,” he said.

Basmadjian indicated that females copulate only once and with the application of this idea the eggs will not be viable, which prevents Aedes aegypti from giving birth. “The idea is to reduce mosquito populations in the long run,” he said.

Uruguay reports more than 400 cases of dengue, a disease with a high incidence in neighboring countries such as Argentina and Brazil.

jrr/jav/mem/ool