By Liezle Basa Inigo
DAGUPAN CITY -At least 6,000 stocks of mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis) from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) were released in ditches in this city as part of the fight against dengue.
The ‘Manlingkor Ya Kalangweran’ (students who will serve in the government) , Mayor Brian Lim ( in white polo ) together with Westly Rosario, ( in red ) chief of BFAR Dagupan join the call vs dengue as they released mosquito fish to the canals at Barangay Pogo Grande, Dagupan City Thursday. (LIEZLE BASA INIGO/ MANILA BULLETIN )
The ‘Manlingkor Ya Kalangweran’ (students who will serve in the government), Mayor Brian Lim together with Westly Rosario, chief of BFAR Dagupan, joined in releasing the mosquito fish at Barangay Pogo Grande Thursday.
Rosario is confident that fish will help reduced the number of dengue cases in the city and the province of Pangasinan.
He said BFAR started releasing mosquito fish in Pangasinan in 2012.
The bureau also distributed some of the fish to schools in Mangaldan, San Fabian and Sta. Barbara in Pangasinan for restocking.
Rosario said the mosquito fish is locally known as itar or kataba.
He noted that Pangasinan has relatively fewer cases of dengue than the other regions.
He said there were previously restocked in canals in schools in Dagupan, Calasiao, Mangaldan, Malasiqui and San Fabian.
The Pangasinan Provincial Health Office (PHO) recorded 2,753 dengue cases in the province from Jan. 1 to the first week of August.
PHO said the figure is 29 percent lower than the 3,877 cases during the same period last year.