Ensuring successful introduction of Wolbachia in natural populations of Aedes aegypti by means of feedback control

TL;DR

This paper develops a feedback control model to optimize the introduction of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes, ensuring the entire Aedes aegypti population becomes Wolbachia-carrying for dengue control.

Contribution

It introduces a novel feedback control protocol based on a mathematical model to reliably replace wild mosquitoes with Wolbachia-infected ones.

Findings

The control protocol guarantees convergence to a Wolbachia-dominant population.

Mathematical analysis confirms stability of the introduced Wolbachia population.

The model provides a framework for planning Wolbachia releases in the field.

Abstract

The control of the spread of dengue fever by introduction of the intracellular parasitic bacterium Wolbachia in populations of the vector Aedes aegypti, is presently one of the most promising tools for eliminating dengue, in the absence of an efficient vaccine. The success of this operation requires locally careful planning to determine the adequate number of individuals carrying the Wolbachia parasite that need to be introduced into the natural population. The introduced mosquitoes are expected to eventually replace the Wolbachia-free population and guarantee permanent protection against the transmission of dengue to human. In this study, we propose and analyze a model describing the fundamental aspects of the competition between mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia and mosquitoes free of the parasite. We then use feedback control techniques to devise an introduction protocol which is proved to guarantee that the population converges to a stable equilibrium where the totality of mosquitoes carry Wolbachia.