DAGUPAN CITY, Pangasinan – Mosquito fish will
be used to eliminate mosquitoes that cause dengue and the Zika virus, an
official said Thursday.
Westly Rosario,
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-National Integrated Fisheries
Technology Development Center chief, said the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority
asked for 10,000 fingerlings of mosquito fish from BFAR to get rid of
disease-carrying mosquitoes in their offices.
“It is important to
give them because some shipping containers may have transported mosquitoes that
carry diseases,” Rosario said.
Rosario said mosquito
fish, locally known as itar or kataba, was earlier used to fight malaria in the
country.
The fish eat mosquito
larvae.
“We just bring back
the importance of this species to address the spread of diseases like dengue or
Zika virus,” he said.
Rosario said mosquito
fish also has high protein level that is used as food for seabass fingerlings.
He said mosquito fish
can survive in low oxygen and has a survival rate of 100 percent.
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