Lok Sabha Question No. 964 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-22
Subject: Jan Jagrukta Abhiyaan
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Rebati Tripura, Ganesan Selvam, Sandhya Ray, Vijay Kumar Dubey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 964 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22 ND NOVEMBER, 2019

## JAN JAGRUKTA ABHIYAA N

## 964. SHRI REBATI TRIPURA:

SHRI SELVAM G.:

SHRIMATI SANDHYA RAY:

SHRI VIJAY KUMAR DUBEY:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  launched  a  special  campaign  called  Jan  Jagrukta  Abhiya recently  aimed  towards  sensitizing  and  mobilizing community  for  prevention  and  control  of vector  borne  diseases  such  as  Dengue  and  Malaria  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  a achievement made so far in this regard;
- (b) whether some parts of the country have reported highest number of dengue cases du ring the last three months;
- (c) if so, the number of such cases reported including the number of persons treated and therefrom, State/UTwise;
- (d) whether it is a fact that in some countries research has been done to produce anti - dengue and sterile mosquitoes to control malaria and dengue and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether any research in this direction has been initiated in the country and i f so, the det ils thereof along with funds allocated and results achieved so far in this regard?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a) : Yes. A Mega awareness campaign ('People's Movement') on Dengue and Malaria in Delhi from 17 -19 July 2019 was conducted under the leadership of Hon'ble Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare involving People's representatives and 286 teams comprising Senior officers and staff from Health Ministry, all three Delhi Municipal Corporations and New Delhi Municipal Council. During the campaign, following activities were carried out:
- i. Interaction with Resident Welfare Associations, school    children, social and religio to create awareness to prevent mosquito breeding in order to control Dengue, Chikungunya and Malaria
- ii.  Demonstration  of  various  types  of  containers/  sites/rooftops  supporting  mosquito - breeding and their elimination.
- iii. Distribution of leaflets, handbills, pamphlets

iv. Motiv ating the community and schools to sustain preventive actions and to adopt pers protection  measures to avoid mosquito bite

The follow up campaign was carried out in Delhi during August and September, 2019.

(b)  &  (c) : Yes. As per reports submitted by the States/UTs, high number of Dengue case occurred  during  last  three  months  (August  to  October  2019).  The  State/UTs - wise  number  of cases and deaths due to Dengue in the country during last three months are at Annexure.

## (d) Dengue

## 1.  Wolbachia - based control of Aedes borne infections

## (i) World Mosquito Program by Monash University, Australia (Population replacement)

For Aedes borne infections, including dengue, Professor Scott O'Neil and his team from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia developed Wolbachia - based strategy for the control of Aedes aegypti transmitted dengue/ chikungunya/zika viruses. Ae. aegypti does not harbor Wolbachi nature. To develop Wolbachia infected Ae. aegypti strain, Wolbachi a isolated from Drosophila melanogaster was introduced stably into this mosquito species. The transinfected Ae. a mosquitoes  in  addition  to  exhibiting  cytoplasmic  incompatibility  (producing  sterile  e crosses with wild Ae. aegypti females and m aternal transmission of Wolbachia to the progeny in crosses with wild Ae. aegypti males, exhibits interruption of dengue, chikungunya, zika , fever viruses replication.

World  Mosquito  Program  initiated  by  Prof.  Scott  O'Niel  (earlier  called  as  Elimin ate  Dengue Program), is operating in 12 countries and six countries (Australia, Brazil, Mexico, V Indonesia and Colombia) are doing field trials as well.

## (ii) Wolbachia -based strategy for the control/ suppression of Aedes albopictus in China

Prof.  Zhiyo ng  Xi  from  Michigan  State  University,  East  Lansing  USA  developed  Aedes albopictus  strain  infected  with  different  strain  of  Wolbachia,  as  Ae.  albopictus  is infected with Wolbachia.  Sun Yat - sen University in Guangzhou, China, and MSU Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease established in China under the leadership of Pr released male mosquitoes of this strain to suppress Ae. albopictus wild population.

## 2. Genetically modified techniques: OXITEC Ae. aegypti RIDL Strain:

- OX513A is an Ae. aegypti strain developed based on RIDL (radiation induced dominant lethal)  technology,  in  which  all  individuals  carry  a  repressible,  homozygous,  domi inherited  lethal  gene  insertion.  RIDL  technology  is  a  species  specific  self - limiting technolo gy.  OX513A  strain  (LA513A)  was  developed  by  Oxford  University,  UK  and OXITEC (Oxford Insect Technologies) a UK based company. This strain was released in Cayman  islands  by  The  mosquito  research  control  unit,  in  Brazil  by  Moscamed  an University of Sao Paul o and in Panama by The Gorgas Memorial Institute. In all these area releases  were  made  in  collaboration  with  OXITEC,  UK.    In  all  three  sites  the  comp claims  that  it  successfully  reduced  field  population  by  90%.  However,  in  a  recent (B.R. Evans et al. Sci. Rep. 9, 13047; 2019), when transgenically modified Aedes aegyp containing a dominant lethal gene was released in Jacobina, Brazil for mosquito popul

suppression,  gnetic  analysis  showed  that  portions  of  transgenic  strain  genome incorpor ated into the wild population of Aedes aegypti.

## Malaria

1. Wolbachia -based strategy for the control of  Anopheles stephensi transmitted malaria developed by Michigan University, USA.

Researchers based at Michigan State University (MSU) have developed a novel natural mosqu biocontrol strategy referred to as malarial mosquito population replacement, or 'MMPR.

In  2012,  MSU  researchers  successfully  introduced  Wolbachia  into  An.  stephens i,  and  the bacterium has been maintained in the laboratory mosquito population to the present.  Subs laboratory  research  and  controlled  field  trials  in  China  have  demonstrated  that  there significant scientific outcomes to MMPR: (1) Wolbachia alters the reproduction of its hosts such that  it  is  rapidly  assimilated  into  the  general  mosquito  population  and  (2)  introdu Wolbachia can make An. stephensi inhospitable to the malaria parasites. The research ha demonstrated that this bacte rium can spread into a wild type laboratory population, such th after seven reproductive cycles (generations), 100% of the An. stephensi population wil this bacterium with the malaria transmission potential being significantly diminished.

(e) : Indian Council of Medical Research - Vector Control Research Centre (ICMR - VCRC), in collaboration with Monash University, Australia carried out laboratory studies and dev local (Puducherry) Ae. aegypti strains with Wolbachia through backcrossing wit h Australian Ae. aegypti carrying Wolbachia strains viz., wMel and wAlb.

The above laboratory study is funded by ICMR for Rs 3.5 crore (approx).

Presently, colonies of two lines of Ae. aegypti carrying Wolbachia ie. wMel Ae. ae (Pud)  and  wAlb  Ae.  aeg ypti  (Pud)  are  maintained  at  ICMR -VCRC  insectary  and  further experiments are going on.

- ……………….

## State/UT - wise Dengue cases and deaths during last 3 months (August to October 2019)

| Sl. No.   | State             | Cases        | Deaths       |
|-----------|-------------------|--------------|--------------|
| 1         | Karnataka         | 10925        | 10           |
| 2         | Uttrakhand        | 9472         | 8            |
| 3         | Maharashtra       | 8083         | 10           |
| 4         | Gujarat           | 7677         | 12           |
| 5         | Telangana         | 7490         | 6            |
| 6         | Uttar Pradesh     | 4700         | 4            |
| 7         | Bihar             | 4502         | 0            |
| 8         | Tamil Nadu        | 3398         | 3            |
| 9         | Andhra Pradesh    | 3100         | 0            |
| 10        | Rajasthan         | 3008         | 0            |
| 11        | Punjab            | 2877         | 0            |
| 12        | Odisha            | 2103         | 0            |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh    | 1963         | 0            |
| 14        | Delhi             | 1933         | 0            |
| 15        | Kerala            | 1821         | 9            |
| 16        | Puducherry        | 835          | 0            |
| 17        | Jharkhand         | 666          | 0            |
| 18        | Goa               | 609          | 0            |
| 19        | D&N Haveli        | 593          | 1            |
| 20        | Haryana           | 363          | 0            |
| 21        | Jammu and Kashmir | 331          | 0            |
| 22        | Chhattisgarh      | 324          | 0            |
| 23        | Manipur           | 278          | 0            |
| 24        | Himachal Pradesh  | 243          | 2            |
| 25        | Sikkim            | 168          | 0            |
| 26        | Chandigarh        | 126          | 0            |
| 27        | Daman & Diu       | 126          | 2            |
| 28        | Assam             | 100          | 0            |
| 29        | A&N Islands       | 69           | 0            |
| 30        | Arunachal Pradesh | 46           | 0            |
| 31        | Meghalaya         | 44           | 0            |
| 32        | Tripura           | 32           | 0            |
| 33        | Mizoram           | 27           | 0            |
| 34        | Nagaland          | 4            | 0            |
| 35        | Lakshadweep       | 0            | 0            |
| 36        | West Bengal       | Not reported | Not reported |
|           | Total             | 78036        | 67           |

## Annexure