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Debug to partner with Puerto Rico Vector Control Unit in a large CDC-backed epidemiological trial
Friday, September 4, 2020
Today, we are excited to announce that Debug will be participating in
Communities Organized for the Prevention of Arbovirus
(COPA) based in Ponce, Puerto Rico. COPA is a community-based project to prevent diseases transmitted by mosquitoes. A central component of the project is a large epidemiological randomized control trial (RCT) to evaluate methods for suppressing mosquito populations and whether they can reduce the incidence of human arboviral infection. Debug was selected by the COPA steering committee to implement a
Wolbachia
-based sterile insect technique (SIT) for this trial to evaluate the extent to which SIT can reduce
Aedes aegypti
in Ponce release neighborhoods and reduce diseases like dengue and Zika, when coupled with community education.
This project is in collaboration with the
Puerto Rico Vector Control Unit
(PRVCU), who will be running the release program in Ponce using Debug technology and WB1
Wolbachia
mosquitoes (through our partnership with
MosquitoMate
), Ponce Health Sciences University, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who will be independently collecting epidemiological data from residents in both the release and control neighborhoods.
Credit:
Jose Oquendo
- Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
Our ability to contribute to this important evaluation is based on several successful Debug field trials, which demonstrated a considerable reduction in the
Ae. aegypti
mosquito populations in areas of
California
,
Singapore
and
Australia
. Like our other field releases, Debug technology will be used to rear and release male
Ae. aegypti
mosquitoes with
Wolbachia
- a naturally occurring bacterium. When our male mosquitoes mate with local female
Ae. aegypti
mosquitoes, their eggs do not hatch, reducing the population over time. Our participation in COPA represents Debug’s first opportunity to directly assess, through an RCT, the impact of our approach on human disease outcomes, with the hope of reducing the incidence of diseases spread by
Ae. aegypti
. Puerto Rico has endured a number of large arboviral outbreaks in recent years, including major dengue epidemics in 2010, 2012-2013, chikungunya in 2014, and a large Zika outbreak in 2016.
Yearly Arboviral Confirmed and Probable Cases, Puerto Rico, 2007- 2020. Data sources: dengue:
PAHO, confirmed and probable cases
, chikungunya:
PRDH, confirmed and probable cases
, Zika:
PAHO, confirmed and probable cases
, last updated: July 17, 2020.
For COPA, we are very fortunate to build on multiple years of work from PRVCU and the CDC whose efforts with community outreach, mosquito surveillance, trial design, and serological testing form the strong foundation upon which this evaluation can take place. Our partnership has commenced releases for the COPA RCT, which consists of 12 neighborhood zones where mosquito and serological surveillance has been performed. Clusters within these 12 zones have been randomly selected to receive Debug’s
Wolbachia
-based SIT and the remaining areas will act as controls.
12 neighborhood zones in the COPA RCT in Ponce, Puerto Rico
This is an important next step for Debug, as we deploy our technique for the first time in this region where diseases spread by
Ae. aegypti
pose a consistent threat to human health and wellness. We are thrilled to partner with local and national experts in this program as we work together to hopefully see a significant, positive impact on the health of people in Ponce.
Sara N Mitchell, PhD, Senior Scientist, Verily
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