Brazil may be first to control dengue

[LONDON] When he announced he was going to Brazil for the World Cup, Andy Quinn was warned by friends and a travel agent to lather on mosquito repellent to avoid potentially fatal dengue fever.

Some of the mosquitoes he saw "were like aliens - I've never seen them that big before," said the 32-year-old Londoner, who attended three games in Brazil before his England team was sent packing. Brazil's stepped up spraying of insecticides didn't seem to help matters.

Now Brazil is developing a more powerful weapon that may be ready when it hosts the 2016 Summer Olympics: genetically modified mosquitoes that self-destruct before doing any damage.