Ecuador has donated 600 liters and 700 kilograms of insecticide that will be used to kill mosquitoes that carry dengue and malaria on the Peru-Ecuador border, reported state news agency Andina.
The insecticide will be used throughout the month of April, in areas were dengue fever and malaria cases have been detected, said Janet Arias Arenas, the executive director of Tumbes’ Regional Health Office.
“If we fumigate, and people clean everything and put a lid on their water storage recipients, then we’ll really be successful,” added Arias.
Simultaneous fumigation has been planned by Ecuador on its own side of the border. Meanwhile, the health ministry in Peru is carrying out information campaigns in various risk areas of the country, including Lima.
Dengue fever produces severe flu-like symptoms, and complications are potentially lethal if it devdelops into hemorrhagic fever. Malaria is caused by the parasite Plasmodium, transmitted also by mosquitoes. The parasite multiplies in the liver and then infects red blood cells.
The only effective way of preventing tranmission of both fevers is to combat the disease-carrying mosquitoes, eliminating risks of garbage and stagnant water sources.
According to the World Health Organization, WHO, key interventions to control malaria include prompt and effective treatment with artemisinin-based combination therapies, use of insecticidal nets by people at risk, and indoor residual spraying with insecticide to control the vector mosquitoes.
