Ever since Zika Virus spread havoc to humanity, particularly to pregnant women, the Health Department nationwide is busy finding ways to trim down the Zika Virus cases. While the New Jersey Department of Health is busy educating the vast majority and the health community about the said virus, the Department of Environmental Protection of NJ State comes up with the most possible solution so far.
New Jersey DEP (Department of Environmental Protection), is projected to eradicate the mosquito inhabitants in the city. New Jersey environmentalist is convinced that one type of mosquito species found in New Jersey, related to Aedes aegypti (the Zika carrier) the Aedes albopictus which brought a disease that affects childbirth in the past is very much present in the city. Bob Martin, ,the NJ DEP Commissioner admits "This year the county mosquito control agencies and the DEP are fighting with more intensity because of the potential Zika virus. We're now stepping up our game right across the state and we're working with those county agencies."
So the proposed solution is to stop its population by importing a fish that feeds mosquito egg. "In the past the DEP had raised a 100,000 to 150,000 mosquito larvae-eating fish every year, but this year, "given the potential challenges of mosquitoes, we decided to use and increase that number significantly." "We're going to be putting about 650 thousand mosquito larvae eating fish out there in the waters of the state of New Jersey and we're working with each of the counties to do that." Martin adds.
Although the dilemma of bringing the fish to South New Jersey since the breeding place is in Hackettstown, there's a possibility the fish may not endure the long trip. However, to solve the problem, there are special tanks constructed at Camden County Mosquito Control center Martin said, "These holding tanks in Camden County are ideal to be able to distribute more fish in the southern part of the state."
He continues, "the fish are going in primarily small ponds and lakes all across the state, each of the counties identifies where there tends to be a lot more stagnant water. Fast-moving water usually does not present a problem situation where mosquitoes will be breeding. It's when you get a lot of water that sits there, that's where they're hatching their eggs."
Along with his plans of upgrading the numbers of fish eating mosquito eggs in New Jersey, he finally said we've got a full program going ahead to address the mosquito population. We're pushing very hard to make sure we're staying ahead of anything going on with Zika."
