Is Wolbachia a sustainable component for dengue control?

Wolbachia-based vector control has emerged as one of the most innovative biological interventions in contemporary dengue prevention, offering an ecologically grounded alternative to insecticide-dependent strategies. By exploiting cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) and strain-specific viral interference, Wolbachia pipientis-transinfected Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus, 1762) mosquitoes can reduce viral transmission, as demonstrated by the Wolbachia-based field trials demonstrating proof of principle. However, the long-term sustainability of this approach remains uncertain. Accumulating field evidence indicates that Wolbachia persistence and epidemiological impact are highly context-dependent, shaped by mosquito fitness, strain-host compatibility, climatic sensitivity, urban ecology and operational continuity. Experiences from Vietnam, Thailand and parts of Brazil illustrate that stable introgression cannot be assumed and may decline when releases are interrupted or ecological conditions are unfavourable. Operational constraints — including mass-rearing quality, dispersal limitations, surveillance intensity and financial costs — pose additional scalability challenges. This perspective critically evaluates whether Wolbachia can function as a sustainable dengue control strategy across diverse endemic settings. We argue that Wolbachia should not be framed as a self-sustaining or stand-alone solution, but rather as a maintenance-dependent, context-sensitive intervention whose effectiveness relies on ecological tailoring, thermotolerant strains, robust post-release surveillance and integration within adaptive integrated vector management (IVM) frameworks. When deployed judiciously alongside complementary control measures, Wolbachia has the potential to become an important — though not exclusive — pillar of long-term dengue control.