Organised in partnership with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the week-long meeting brings together more than 50 scientists and public health experts from around 40 countries in Asia, Africa and the Americas to learn about the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) – an environmentally friendly birth control method for insect pests.

Disease-transmitting mosquitos thrive in widening geographical areas as a result of climate change and increasing global travel and trade. Zika virus infection has been reported in 70 countries and territories. Last week, Singapore authorities confirmed over100 cases of Zika virus infections. There is now scientific consensus that the virus is a cause of microcephaly in newborns and Guillain-Barré, a neurological disorder, in adults. The World Health Organization in February declared Zika a public health emergency of international concern, after it spread through Latin America and the Caribbean.

In the absence of vaccines and efficient, safe and inexpensive drugs to manage such diseases, integrated control of the vector responsible for their transmission is crucial.

The SIT uses irradiation to sterilize insect pests before releasing them in large numbers to mate with wild females. Since they do not produce any offspring, the population, and consequently the disease incidence, is reduced over time. Used successfully for decades to combat fruit flies and livestock pests such as screwworm and tsetse flies, the technique can be adapted also for some disease-transmitting mosquito species. Pilot projects are being initiated or are under way in different parts of the world.

“Participants in this weeks’ meeting will be informed about the overall concept of the SIT and the use of radiation to sterilize insects,” said Konstantinos Bourtzis, Molecular Biologist at the joint FAO/IAEA division of nuclear techniques in food and agriculture.

“Sterilization through radiation does not leave a genetic footprint in the environment, nor transfers radioactivity to the released mosquitos,” he said. “It can be used very effectively when combined with other methods.”

The IAEA has been responding to requests from Member States for urgent assistance to fight mosquito-borne diseases like Zika. In February, the Agency launched a regional project to help Latin America and the Caribbean develop the capacity to apply the SIT to mosquitos. It has also helped countries use a nuclear-derived technique – Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) – to detect the virus within hours.

Video: Zika Crisis - the IAEA Responds