RIO DE JANEIRO — Health experts fighting Zika plan the large-scale release of mosquitoes infected with a bacteria in South America early next year, in an effort to stop transmission of the virus.

Wolbachia is a natural bacterium found in up to 60 percent of insects. However, it is not usually found in the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the main culprit for transmitting the Zika virus.

Scientists had to inject the bacteria into mosquito embryos in order to infect the mosquitoes. They succeeded after numerous failed attempts, Time reported.

The bacteria is spread from female mosquitoes to their offspring, even if the female mates with an uninfected male, according to the Eliminate Dengue Program, which developed the Wolbachia method. On the other hand, if an infected male mosquito mates with an uninfected female mosquito, their eggs won’t hatch.

The bacteria can stop viruses such as Zika from growing inside the mosquito, thus stopping them from being transmitted to people.

The Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes will be released in the greater Rio de Janeiro area in Brazil and parts of Antioquia in Colombia, according to the Eliminate Dengue Program.