War on dengue: Central Mindanao gets 8,000 mosquito traps

GENERAL SANTOS CITY—At least 8,000 antimosquito devices called Ovicidal/Larvicidal (OL) Traps have been distributed to some areas of Central Mindanao in a bid to prevent the rise in the number of dengue cases, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said.

Zenaida Laidan, DOST regional director, said, during the opening of the National Science and Technology Week  celebration at Phela Convention Center here on Thursday, that the OL Traps were produced using local technology.

The mosquito trap was developed by researchers from Industrial Technology Development Institute of the DOST.

The trap’s main feature is a piece of wood that looks like an ice cream bar stick saturated with an organic solution, which is placed upright in the container.

Laidan said this is where mosquitoes deposit their eggs. The black color of the container attracts the mosquitoes and the fumes of the solution kill the eggs and larvae, she said.

Laidan said laboratory tests have been conducted before the OL Traps were fielded and results showed that the devices are as effective as other methods, sans the high cost.

Laidan said an OL Trap may last up to two months, outliving a generation of mosquitoes, which has a life span of only one month.

The recipients of the locally invented technology were the villages of Calumpang and Fatima here; Alabel town in Sarangani; Tupi town in South Cotabato, and the villages of Cannery Site, Pagalungan and Poblacion in Polomolok town, also in South Cotabato, and Zone 3 in Koronadal City.

The Department of Health in the region said that because of the onset of the rainy season, all medical facilities have been placed on alert in anticipation of more dengue cases.

“The number of dengue cases usually goes up during the onset of the rainy season,” said Jenelyn Ventura, health education officer of the regional DOH office.

But Ventura quickly said that there was no increase in the number of dengue cases in the region, which groups the provinces of South Cotabato, Sarangani, North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat and the cities within them. Aquiles Z. Zonio, Inquirer Mindanao