SOURCE: IAEA
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: February 2016 Brazil. April 2016 Austria. August 2013 Ethiopia. October 2011 Croatia.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is providing nuclear-related technology to countries affected by the Zika virus in Latin America and the Caribbean.
After twelve years of research at IAEA laboratories, a pest control technique that uses radiation to sterilize male insects is being transferred to the region where it will be integrated in national mosquito control programmes and further developed.
The method is known as the sterile insect technique, or SIT for short. It was first implemented in the 1950s and is now used in around 25 countries, mainly to tackle pests such as moths, fruit flies and tsetse flies.