IAEA Helps Brazil Step up the Fight Against ‘Zika’ Mosquitoes

The IAEA will facilitate the transfer of a gamma cell irradiator to Brazil to help the country’s battle with the Zika virus, the Agency announced at an expert meeting in Brasilia today. It could, in a few months, help scale up the production of sterile male mosquitoes to be released in selected areas of the country mostly affected by the current Zika virus outbreaks.
The equipment, a cobalt-60 gamma cell irradiator, is expected to be transferred to the Brazilian non-profit Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) centre Moscamed in Juazeiro, Bahia. The machine is an essential component in the use of SIT, a form of pest control that uses ionizing radiation to sterilize male insects mass-produced in special facilities.….