Two private companies have formed a partnership to release mosquitoes that have been bred with a bacterium in the Caribbean. This bacterium is known for blocking the dengue virus, which is crucial as the region faces an overwhelming number of cases.

Orbit Services Partners Inc., a Barbados-based company, is teaming up with Verily, a health technology company located in San Francisco, for the project. According to Orbit’s chairman Anthony Da Silva, the companies have been in discussions with government officials in the area to potentially launch the project in the beginning of next year.

This plan would focus on countries such as Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Maarten, St. Martin, Suriname, Dominican Republic, and Haiti.

Other initiatives have utilized the Wolbachia bacteria in a similar manner. Mosquitoes are deliberately infected with Wolbachia in a controlled setting and then released into their natural habitat, allowing for the bacteria to be transmitted to future generations. This bacteria effectively blocks the replication of the dengue virus in a mosquito’s digestive system.

According to Da Silva, the collaboration has been in progress for three years but was hindered by the pandemic. The suggestion is currently awaiting approval from each Caribbean country.

The Caribbean, along with the rest of the Americas, has documented over 4 million instances of dengue this year, marking the highest number since record-keeping started in 1980.