Major pest: Aedes mosquitoes are the primary vectors of chikungunya.— AFP
Scientists battling the country’s largest chikungunya epidemic are releasing swarms of giant cannibal mosquitoes whose larvae devour the smaller insects spreading the debilitating disease.
These so-called “elephant mosquitoes”, measuring nearly 2cm in length, are voracious predators.
Public health experts hope these unusual allies will become unlikely heroes in stopping the painful, fast-moving virus in the southern province of Guangdong.
With more than 6,000 infections reported in just three weeks in Foshan alone, authorities are also reviving familiar tactics from the Covid-19 playbook, including mass polymerase chain reaction testing, isolation of infected residents and neighbourhood-wide disinfection campaigns.
Yet it’s the unconventional methods – giant mosquitoes – that underscore the desperation of officials confronting an unprecedented outbreak.
The larvae of these so-called elephant mosquitoes, also known as Toxorhynchites splendens, is released by a research team from Sun Yat-sen University’s Zhongshan School of Medicine in Guangdong.
They don’t bite humans but prey on Aedes mosquitoes – the primary vectors of chikungunya, dengue, Zika and yellow fever.
Foshan, a sprawling city in central Guangdong, is deploying another tool: a local variety of fish that eats mosquito eggs and larvae. More than 5,000 of the fish have been released into city ponds and rivers.
The city has designated 53 hospitals for chikungunya treatment, offering more than 3,600 beds equipped with mosquito nets and plans to expand capacity, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
In nearby Guangzhou, officials published a risk map of all 120 communities and launched a week-long campaign involving mosquito spraying twice a day.
One larva of the elephant mosquito can consume up to 100 Aedes, according to Zhang Dongjing, associate professor and technical director of a “mosquito factory” linked to Sun Yat-sen University. — Bloomberg
