Mosquito traps deployed to fight dengue in Central Mindanao

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – Some 8,000 anti-mosquito devices called ovicidal-larvicidal traps have been distributed in some areas of Central Mindanao in a bid to prevent the rise of dengue, the Department of Science and Technology said.

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

The mosquito trap was developed by researchers from the 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 was where the 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 were conducted before the traps were fielded and results showed that the devices were as effective as other methods, without the high cost.

Laidan said an OL-trap may last up to two months, outliving a generation of mosquitoes, which have a lifespan of only one month.

The recipients of the locally invented traps were the villages of Calumpang and Fatima in General Santos; 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 regional office said that because of the onset of the rainy season, all medical facilities had 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,” Jenelyn Ventura, Region 12 health education officer, said.

But Ventura noted that there has been no increase in dengue cases so far in the region, which covers the provinces of South Cotabato, Sarangani, North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.

On the contrary, she said that compared with the dengue cases monitored from January to July last year, there has been a decrease this year.

Citing DoH-12 data, Ventura said that for the first half of the year, only 1,192 dengue cases were recorded with 11 deaths. This, she said, was 83 percent lower than a year ago.