Prospects for vector control through sterilization procedures

Interest in sterilization as a possible method for controlling insects of public health importance can be said to have arisen first in the mid-fifties, when the screw-worm fly was successfully eradicated from the island of Curaçao by the release over the entire island of large numbers of male flies sterilized by gamma-radiation. Since then, many studies on the sterilization of various insect vectors of disease have been carried out. This paper reviews these studies and discusses the present position regarding vector control by sterilization procedures, with special reference to the use of chemosterilants. These compounds have certain advantages over radiation since they can be used not only as a substitute for X-rays or gamma-rays in the sterilization of insects specially reared for release in large numbers, but also as a means of inducing sterility in natural populations of insects. The author emphasizes that chemosterilants cannot at present be recommended as a practical control or eradication procedure for any vector species of insect, but considers that this extension of the sterilization method holds great promise and merits intensive investigation.