A team of specialists from the Pasteur Institute of Iran successfully conducted field operations and sampling of native populations ofAedes aegypti (the dengue virus vector) in Bandar Abbas. The mission was carried out under the national project approved by the NIMAD Institute, titled "Manipulation ofAedes Mosquitoes withWolbachia Bacteria". The operation was coordinated with the Center for Communicable Disease Management of the Ministry of Health and conducted in collaboration with the Health Deputy of Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences. Its objective was to identify hotspots and collect live samples at various developmental stages (eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults) in residential, peri-urban, and construction areas of Bandar Abbas, in Hormozgan Province.

The collected samples, along withAnopheles stephensi specimens, were transferred to the National Insectarium of Iran for the establishment of laboratory colonies, microbiome monitoring, and evaluation of novel biological methods for vector control. The dispatched team comprised Dr. N. Maleki Ravasan, Dr. A. Raz, Mr. H. Yousefi, and Mr. M. Yarian from specialized departments of the Pasteur Institute of Iran. This mission represents a new step in dengue containment, leveragingWolbachia biotechnology to reduce vector-borne disease transmission.