Are other public health problems amenable to genetic biocontrol?

Genetic biocontrol can be applied to other disease vectors besides mosquitoes. For example, Sterile Insect Technology has been used to control the tsetse fly vector of African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness). Some researchers also are studying the applicability of genetic biocontrol to ticks.

Some human and animal diseases, such as Lyme disease and plague, are transmitted directly or indirectly by rodents. For these, the same types of genetic biocontrol methods proposed to reduce invasive rodents for conservation purposes might also be useful for public health.

For more information:

https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/20305482024.pdf
https://www.cdc.gov/rodents/index.html