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Guppy fish prove to be cheap, effective tool in fight against dengue: ADB
Larvae-eating guppy fish can help combat the spread of dengue, according to a trial study jointly commissioned by the governments of Cambodia and the Lao Peopleâs Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) with the support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Health Organization (WHO)
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arvae-eating guppy fish can help combat the spread of dengue, according to a trial study jointly commissioned by the governments of Cambodia and the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) with the support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
'This is a low-cost, year-round, safe way of reducing the spread of dengue in which the whole community can participate,' ADB health specialist Gerard Servais said in an official release made available to The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
'It offers a viable alternative to using chemicals and can reduce the scale of costly emergency response activities to contain epidemics,' Servis went on.
The community-based project, conducted in two districts in Cambodia and Lao PDR from 2009 to 2011, resulted in a sharp decline in mosquito larvae in water storage tanks after the tiny fish were introduced.
Guppies eat larvae that grow into mosquitoes, which in turn bite humans and transmit dengue.
Dengue causes severe joint and muscle pain, headache, high fever and rashes and is fatal in a small proportion of cases, in particular if not diagnosed and treated early.
Currently there is still no vaccine or specific medicine to treat this viral disease.
Around 2.5 billion people worldwide are at risk of contracting dengue, more than 70 percent of whom live in Asia and the Pacific.
