The future of Aedes aegypti control emphasizes the transition from traditional insecticides toward more sustainable and multisectoral integrated strategies, like using Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes for population suppression or replacement. We reviewed the integration of the successful Mexican initiative, “Mosquitos Buenos”, with the key challenges outlined in the PAHO guidelines for incorporating innovative approaches into vector control programs. These challenges include establishing essential infrastructure, training personnel, managing field operations, and fostering community support. Our experience provides critical evidence to support the strategic National Plan for implementing and integrating IIT-SIT technologies to control Ae. aegypti and dengue. Furthermore, this experience serves as a foundation for other countries in the region interested in adopting these technologies. It underscores the importance of strategic planning, multisectoral collaboration, continuous evaluation, and scaling up innovative tools to ensure their long-term effectiveness and sustainability in urban areas where Aedes vectors and the diseases they transmit are endemic.
Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse), a mosquito vector with increasing capacity to transmit human arboviral infections worldwide, naturally harbors the intracellular bacterium Wolbachia spp. This relationship has been observed in native mosquito populations of Ae. albopictus around the world and, more recently, in Mérida, Yucatán, México (abbreviated hereafter as MID). This study provides additional evidence confirming the presence of Wolbachia A (wAlbA) and B (wAlbB) strains in field-collected Ae. albopictus of Mérida, based on wsp gene DNA sequencing analyses of 14 positive PCR samples. Maximum likelihood (ML) analyses of the wsp gene showed high nucleotide sequence homology between Wolbachia from Merida and the globally reported strains A and B, suggesting that these two Wolbachia strains have remained stable in Ae. albopictus over time, regardless of the geographical area. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of Wolbachia gene sequencing in native populations of Ae. albopictus in Yucatán, Mexico. Currently many Aedes mosquitoes (e.g., Ae. aegypti) harboring intracellular Wolbachia B bacteria are being released as part of arbovirus and mosquito control programs in Yucatan and globally. Understanding the presence and stability of Wolbachia strains across different Aedes host backgrounds is crucial to ensuring the long-term effectiveness of biological interventions aimed at controlling mosquito populations and arbovirus transmission in endemic areas.