Emerging challenges for mosquito-borne disease control and the promise of symbiont-based transmission-blocking strategies

Mosquitoes serve as vectors for a variety of pathogens that cause life-threatening diseases, such as malaria, dengue, Zika, and yellow fever. With the rise of antimalarial drug resistance and a lack of therapeutics or prophylactics for dengue and Zika, current disease control strategies rely heavily on mosquito population management. However, the effectiveness of conventional approaches is increasingly compromised, highlighting an urgent need for innovative tools to combat mosquito-borne diseases. One promising strategy for blocking the transmission of these diseases is to populate mosquitoes with anti-pathogen gut symbionts. Here, we discuss the major challenges facing current mosquito-borne disease control efforts and explore how mosquito gut microbiota-based control strategies may address them. We highlight recent advances that may accelerate field applications and offer perspectives on future directions and the translational potential of symbiont-based strategies for mitigating mosquito-borne disease transmission.