Inside a two-story brick building in Medellín, Colombia, scientists work long hours in muggy labs breeding millions and millions of mosquitoes. They tend to the insects’ every need as they grow from larvae to pupae to adults, keeping the temperature just right and feeding them generous helpings of fishmeal, sugar, and, of course, blood.在哥伦比亚麦德林市的一栋两层砖楼里，科学家们在闷热的实验室中长时间工作，培育着数百万只蚊子。在蚊子从幼虫到蛹再到成虫的生长过程中，他们满足蚊子的一切需求：保持合适的温度，给它们喂食大量的鱼粉和糖，当然还有血液。
Then, they release them across the country to breed with wild mosquitoes that can carry dengue and other viruses threatening to sicken and kill the population of Colombia.然后，他们在全国各地释放这些蚊子，让它们与可携带登革热和其他病毒的野生蚊子交配，这些病毒威胁着哥伦比亚人的健康和生命。
This might sound the beginnings of a Hollywood writer’s horror film plot.这听起来像是好莱坞作家创作的一部恐怖电影的开头情节。
And the mosquitoes being released don’t terrorize the local population. Far from it. They’re actually helping to save and improve millions of lives.而且被释放的蚊子并不会让当地居民恐慌。事实正好相反。它们实际上在帮助拯救生命，并改善数百万人的生活。
Here’s how they do it: The mosquitoes being produced in this factory carry bacteria called Wolbachia that block them from transmitting dengue and other viruses, such as Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever, to humans. By releasing them to reproduce with wild mosquitoes, they spread the bacteria, reducing virus transmission and protecting millions of people from illnesses.他们是这样做的：这家工厂生产的蚊子携带一种名为沃尔巴克氏菌的细菌，这种细菌可以阻止它们将登革热和其他病毒（如寨卡病毒、基孔肯雅热病毒和黄热病毒）传播给人类。通过释放这些蚊子与野生蚊子交配，它们得以传播沃尔巴克氏菌，减少病毒传播，保护数百万人免受疾病困扰。
I’ve written before about these amazing Wolbachia mosquitoes, including last year when a new study showed how effective they could be in preventing diseases. The randomized controlled trial conducted in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, found that Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes reduced the number of dengue cases in the city by 77 percent and dengue hospitalizations by 86 percent. In a new study in Medellín, dengue cases have declined by 89 percent since Wolbachia mosquitoes started being released in 2015.我以前写过一篇文章来介绍这些神奇的携带沃尔巴克氏菌的蚊子，包括去年的一项新研究也表明这种蚊子在预防疾病方面的有效性。在印度尼西亚日惹进行的这项随机对照试验发现，携带沃尔巴克氏菌的蚊子使该市的登革热病例数量减少了77%，使因登革热住院的人数减少了86%。在麦德林市开展的一项新研究也表明，自2015年开始释放携带沃尔巴克氏菌的蚊子以来，登革热病例数量减少了89%。
These results are a huge breakthrough, offering proof that this new technology will protect entire cities and countries against the threat of mosquito-borne diseases. The World Mosquito Program, which is leading the Wolbachia effort, is now releasing these mosquitoes in 11 countries: Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu.这些研究结果是一项巨大突破，证明了这项新技术将保护整个城市和国家免受蚊媒疾病的威胁。领导沃尔巴克氏菌蚊子研究的“世界蚊子计划”，目前正在11个国家释放这些蚊子。这些国家是：巴西、哥伦比亚、墨西哥、印度尼西亚、斯里兰卡、越南、澳大利亚、斐济、基里巴斯、新喀里多尼亚和瓦努阿图。
And what’s remarkable about the Wolbachia mosquitoes is that once enough of them are released to offer disease protection, it’s a solution that’s self-sustaining. Over time, families will be spared the heartbreak of losing loved ones and communities won’t need to spend money on prevention and treatment for these mosquito-borne diseases, freeing up funds for other health priorities.沃尔巴克氏菌蚊子的非凡之处在于，一旦释放了足够多的蚊子来提供疾病保护，这项解决方案就可以自发维持下去。随着时间的推移，家庭将免于失去亲人的痛苦，社区也不再需要拨款来预防和治疗这些蚊媒疾病，从而腾出资金用于其他卫生优先事项。
The World Mosquito Program aims to spread Wolbachia among Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, a tropical mosquito that is a host for dengue, yellow fever, and other viruses. (Malaria is spread through a parasite carried by the Anopheles mosquito and is not a focus of the Wolbachia effort.) With climate change, there is an urgency to the World Mosquito Program’s work. As global temperatures rise, Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, are finding more regions of the world habitable, increasing the spread of these diseases. The biggest risk is posed by dengue, which infects more than 400 million people each year and kills 20,000.世界蚊子计划的目标是在埃及伊蚊中传播沃尔巴克氏菌。这是一种热带蚊子，是登革热、黄热病和其他病毒的宿主。（疟疾是通过按蚊携带的寄生虫传播的，并不是沃尔巴克氏菌攻克的重点。）气候变化加剧了世界蚊子计划工作的紧迫性。随着全球气候变暖，埃及伊蚊在世界上更多的地区找到了宜居地，增加了这些疾病的传播。埃及伊蚊导致的最大风险是登革热，这种疾病每年感染4亿多人，并导致了2万人死亡。
The demand for these lifesaving mosquitoes continues to grow and that means the World Mosquito Program needs to produce hundreds of millions of Wolbachia mosquitoes. That brings us back to the factory in Medellín, which is currently the world’s largest mosquito breeding facility in the world, producing more than 30 million mosquitoes per week. Other World Mosquito Program sites around the world are also breeding Wolbachia mosquitoes, but Colombia’s is currently the largest.对这些拯救生命的蚊子的需求持续增长，这意味着世界蚊子计划需要生产数以亿计的携带沃尔巴克氏菌的蚊子。因此，让我们再回到位于麦德林的工厂，这是目前世界上最大的蚊子培育工厂，每周培育超过3000万只蚊子。世界蚊子计划在世界上其他地方的工厂也在培育携带沃尔巴克氏菌的蚊子，但哥伦比亚的这个是目前规模最大的。
在哥伦比亚麦德林市的世界蚊子计划工厂中，数百只携带沃尔巴克氏菌的蚊子以血液为食。这些蚊子将被释放，与野生蚊子群体交配，传播沃尔巴克氏菌，从而阻止登革热和其他蚊媒疾病向人类传播。Until now, killing or repelling mosquitoes with insecticides, bed nets, and traps has been the priority, not mass producing them. As difficult as it is to kill mosquitoes, raising them by the millions may be even harder. Mosquitoes must be bred, fed, and housed under ideal conditions for them to grow and reproduce. The factory in Medellín has been perfecting the process and improving its efficiency so they can breed and release Wolbachia mosquitoes on a large scale.到目前为止，优先方案一般是采用杀虫剂、蚊帐或诱捕器杀死或驱赶蚊子，而非大规模生产蚊子。杀死蚊子固然困难，但培育数百万只的蚊子可能更加困难。蚊子必须在理想的条件下被培育、饲养和安置，以便其生长和繁殖。这家位于麦德林的工厂一直在完善工艺，提高效率，以便大规模培育和释放携带沃尔巴克氏菌的蚊子。
The centerpiece of the mosquito factory is a colony of Wolbachia mosquitoes, called the brood stock, from which all future populations of Wolbachia mosquito offspring are bred. The brood stock offspring are then raised to create millions of eggs, which hatch when put in water and become larvae. Fed with fish meal, the larvae grow to become pupae, which then become adults. To thrive, adults need sugar (check out this story about how researchers in Zambia are exploiting mosquito’s craving for sugar to create a new bait that will control the spread of malaria) and blood, which the team sources from expired stocks at blood banks. 蚊子工厂的核心是一群携带沃尔巴克氏菌的蚊子，被称为育种库，未来所有的沃尔巴克氏菌蚊子后代都经由这个育种库繁殖而成。种蚊的后代经培育，产出数百万个卵，这些卵放入水中孵化，成为幼虫。经由鱼粉饲养，幼虫成长为蛹，最后长成成虫。为使其茁壮成长，成虫需要糖（请看这个故事，赞比亚的研究人员如何利用蚊子对糖的渴望来创造一种新型诱饵，以控制疟疾的传播）和血液，血液由该团队从血库的过期库存中获取。
Once the factory has bred millions of eggs and adult mosquitoes, they are ready to be released. The eggs are packaged in small gelatin capsules, each containing 300 eggs, which are given to residents to drop in water to hatch. The advantage of egg releases like this is that the eggs can easily be transported long distances and they can be hatched as needed. The factory also releases adult mosquitoes by the thousands from the back of motorcycles roving the city. The World Mosquito team is also experimenting with releases from drones. The adult releases allow the Wolbachia mosquitoes to immediately begin mating with the wild mosquito population and spreading the virus-blocking bacteria.一旦工厂培育出数百万个蚊子卵和蚊子成虫，就可以将它们释放。这些卵被包装在小小的明胶胶囊里，每个胶囊里装有300个卵，然后被交给居民，让他们丢在水中进行孵化。这样释放的好处是，卵易于长途运输，而且可以根据需要进行孵化。工厂还将蚊子成虫放在摩托车后座中，并在摩托车穿行在城市的过程中释放了成千上万只成虫。世界蚊子计划的团队也在试验用无人机释放蚊子。释放成虫使得携带沃尔巴克氏菌的蚊子能够立即开始与野生蚊子种群交配，传播阻断病毒的细菌。
It’s exciting to see how far the World Mosquito Program has come. Years ago, the idea of releasing mosquitoes as an ally in the fight against diseases struck many people as crazy. But support for this innovative solution has caught on in communities around the world. These amazing mosquitoes are taking flight and saving lives.
看到世界蚊子计划取得了如此大的进展，真是振奋人心。几年前，释放蚊子帮助抗击疾病这一想法让许多人感到疯狂。但现如今，对这一创新解决方案的支持已经在世界各地的社区之中流行了起来。这些神奇的蚊子正在飞舞，拯救生命。