The Asian Tiger Mosquito Aedes albopictus has been introduced in Italy since 1990 and rapidly colonized the whole country. It earned notoriety among millions of Italians and foreign tourists for its daily aggressiveness and the irritation caused by its bites. But more importantly its vectorial capacity supported several Chikungunya and Dengue outbreaks stressing the need for more effective vector control measures.
It is evident that the currently available mosquito control strategies cannot guarantee the reduction of the mosquito population below the epidemic risk level or nuisance threshold.
Alongside these considerations, this species is particularly suitable for application of the SIT for several reasons:
The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is a biological pest control method based on area-wide inundative releases of sterile insects to reduce the reproduction in a field population of the same species (FAO). The SIT has been employed all around the world as part of area-wide integrated pest management programs (AW-IPM) over the past 60 years to contain, reduce, eliminate or prevent the establishment of insect pests of agronomic, veterinary and medical importance (IAEA).
Over the years all aspects relevant for the SIT strategy optimisation have been addressed at the CAA lab. From a technological perspective the current state of the art may be summed up as follows:
A modular prototype breeding plant is currently in operation with a production capacity of one million sterile males of Aedes albopictus per week. The sterile males produced are used to conduct demonstration pilot projects in real conditions in Italy (Bologna, Procida island) and European countries (Germany, Greece, Switzerland).
CAA, designated IAEA collaboration center since 2011, hosts foreign researchers interested in training and acquiring skills on Sterile Male technology applied to species of the Aedes genus.
A biofarm for the production of 10 million sterile males/week is in the executive planning phase.
CAA has been recognized as IAEA Collaboration Centre since 2011, supporting the Agency for the development of the SIT on Aedes species, hosting researchers for training and promoting the sustainable use of the technology.
Since 1999 CAA has activated several collaborations with key research entities: