The
Government of Jamaica doomed to repeat the same mistake again with the Tiki-Tiki
Fish (Gambusia affinis). Or they may
be geniuses, as this just might work!
I’m
of course referring to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture
plan to give Jamaicans aquariums filled with Tiki-Tiki Fish as reported in the
article “Tiki
Tiki Fish Being Distributed To Households Islandwide To Kill Mosquito Larvae”,
Published Wednesday September 14, 2016 by Jason Cross, The Jamaica Gleaner.
Otherwise known as the western mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis), the aim is to control the Aedes Aegypti Mosquito population islandwide naturally! They are distributing these Aedes Aegypti Mosquito larvae eating fish across this island in Jamaican households as a natural method of controlling the spread of the Aedes Aegypti Mosquito that spreads the Zika Virus.
Hopefully
too, it’ll also encourage a love for Aquaculture.....at least that’s my take on
it, as the Aquaculture Branch of the Ministry of Agriculture's Fisheries
Division will be procuring the Tiki-Tiki Fish (Gambusia affinis).
Already,
the Zika Virus has been identified as the causative agent behind Microcephaly,
acute myelitis and Guillain-Barré syndrome as pointed out in my blog article
entitled “How
the Zika Virus now connected to Microcephaly, acute myelitis and Guillain-Barré
syndrome”.
Now
there is evidence from research done by Dr Joseph Gleeson, a professor at
Rockefeller University that suggests that it may also affect adult brain cells
as reported in the article “Zika
may damage brain cells in adults, say scientists”, published Sunday, August
21, 2016, The Jamaica Observer.
Apparently
the Zika Virus affects the pats of the brain critical to learning and memory
and even behaviour. So it’s not just
babies anymore; we adult humans are in danger of basically falling prey to a
virus that can reduce out thinking capacity even as adults, potentially making
us more violent.
Just
Great!
So
can these Tiki-Tiki Fish make a difference in controlling the population of the
vector that spreads the Zika Virus?
Ministry of Agriculture
Portmore experiment with Gambusia affinis - Tiki-Tiki Fish were supposed to
kill the Aedes Aegypti mosquito
larvae
The
answer is maybe! But first, some historical background into the use of Tiki-Tiki
Fish (Gambusia affinis) in Jamaica!
The
Tiki-Tiki Fish experiment has been tried already in Portmore back in December
2011 as note in the article “Portmore
Tries 'Tiki Tiki' To Control Mosquitoes”, published Thursday December 22,
2011, The Jamaica Gleaner.
Good to note back then the Minister of Agriculture was Robert Montague of the JLP (Jamaica Labour Party). Portmore had been chosen because of the high level of mosquito infestation in that community.
This
is because the flat topography and extensive drainage systems resulting in a
lot of water that's non-moving. The result is that it provides a lot of slow or
still water for the Aedes Aegypti
mosquito to breed and infest the Portmore area, resulting in the Zika Virus
spread in that community.
It
is for this reason that they sought to use the Tiki-Tiki Fish (Gambusia affinis) being as they are a
natural, or biological, control for Aedes
Aegypti mosquito larvae as pointed out back then by Senior Public Health
Inspector in the Vector Control Unit of the St Catherine Health Department,
Simeon Bromfield.
This
makes sense, as fogging only attacks the adult female Aedes Aegypti mosquito. However it only kills a small percentage of
them and the Malathion Spray more like to affect humans as noted in my blog article
entitled “Why
Ministry of Health's Malathion caused asthma attacks at Ocho Rios High School
and needs to be banned”.
Worse,
those that survive may potentially pass immunity to their offspring. So killing
the Aedes Aegypti mosquito larvae is
key to winning the battle against mosquitoes and controlling the spread of the
Zika Virus.
Ministry of Health and
Agriculture Experiment by 2012 - Tiki-Tiki Fish failed and the GOJ cover-up
By
this token, a total of 10,000 fish Tiki-Tiki Fish, costing the Aquaculture
Branch of the Ministry of Agriculture's Fisheries Division some JA$50,000, had
been released into the drain on Adair Drive located in the Waterford Community
of Portmore.
Carried
over a three (3) days period starting from Friday December 16th 2011,
the fish were a part of an experiment to be monitored monthly over a six (6) month
period. High hopes had been placed on this program, given their successful use
in Singapore to control mosquitoes, as they had been proven that the fish can
survive in harsh conditions, including saline and stagnant water.
By
August 2012, according to former mayor of Portmore George Lee, the Tiki-Tiki
Fish (Gambusia affinis) had died out,
resulting in him prematurely declaring the program a failure as noted in the
article “Ticky-ticky
flop! - Portmore back to square one”, published Sunday, August 26, 2012, by
Corey Robinson, The Sunday Observer.
He claims that the water in Portmore Gullies was too heavily polluted to the point that it was too acidic for the fish to thrive, quote: “They didn't do very well in Portmore... they couldn't survive the acidity. They would have survived if we had cleaner water. But because of the toxity with the sewage going into our drains, they couldn't. So the programme wasn't successful”.
Although
his sources were not mentioned, he made one observation that is correct; the
level of sewage encourages the growth of water lilies. These act as water
breaks in flowing water, making it possible for the Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes to lay their eggs during period of low
water movement or water turbidity, attaching them to the leaves of these
plants.
By
the time the water starts to churn, the Aedes
Aegypti mosquitoes would have already hatched in 22 days and begun the
cycle once again.
The
Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes lay up to 100
to 200 eggs; when they hatch and swim around in the still water pools created
by the water lilies and garbage in the gullies. So even if they’d survived, the
rate of reproduction of the Tiki-Tiki Fish (Gambusia
affinis) would have to be equivalent to rate the Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes were reproducing to make a dent.
Strangely,
the Ministry of Agriculture has been silent on the result of the Tiki-Tiki Fish
(Gambusia affinis) experiment. This
has led many Jamaicans to one to wonder if it had failed and they're trying to
cover up the possible massive financial expenditure on a program that just
didn't work.
So
what can be done to kill the Aedes
Aegypti mosquito larvae population and thus control the population of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito spreading the
Zika Virus?
How to make the Tiki-Tiki
Fish Aquariums Work – Cleaning Gullies too Expensive but necessary
There
are many changes that can be made to make the Tiki-Tiki Fish (Gambusia affinis) as well as natural
alternatives that can be used alongside the Tiki-Tiki Fish (Gambusia affinis).
One
of the main changes with the Ministry of
Health and the Ministry of Agriculture Tiki-Tiki Fish (Gambusia affinis) Aquarium Program is that they’ll be distributed
to households islandwide as pointed out in the article “Tiki
Tiki Fish Being Distributed To Households Islandwide To Kill Mosquito Larvae”,
Published Wednesday September 14, 2016 by Jason Cross, The Jamaica Gleaner.
This as it may be too expensive to clean the gullies and make them suitable for the “hardy” Tiki-Tiki Fish (Gambusia affinis). Thus encouraging all Jamaicans across the island to set up aquariums with Tiki-Tiki Fish (Gambusia affinis) to eat mosquito larvae may be the cheapest solution.
To
make Tiki-Tiki Fish (Gambusia affinis)
work in Gullies such as those in Portmore, the Government of Jamaica has to
reduce the level of Garbage and pollutants being poured into the gullies, steam
and rivers.
These
pollutants, be it industrial waste from factories to people dumping garbage
into the river, reduce the turbidity or moving water, make it more toxic with
the presence of Rare Earth and heavy metal pollutants. It also increases the
amount of organic material in the river, making algae, river lilies and other
pathogen flourish and encouraging the Aedes
Aegypti mosquito to lay their eggs and breed.
By
making the water free-flowing, it presents less opportunity for them to breed.
Part of this process may involve the dredging on these gullies, especially
those in Portmore, to remove the mud that gathers at the bottom of the Gullies.
This as during dry times, the moist mud, mostly made up of silt, is also a
place where Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes
often lay their eggs.
This
aim is to keep the gullies free of debris, with the debris, which may be mostly
plastic, electronics and other solid waste, being recycled to make revenue to
support this initiative.
This
is necessary but expensive as manpower and machines will be needed to clear and
soft garbage and dredge the river; giving people an aquarium with a stock of Tiki-Tiki
Fish (Gambusia affinis) is much
cheaper.
Hence
the reason why the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture are encouraging
homeowners to grow Tiki-Tiki Fish (Gambusia
affinis).
Natural pesticides and
Mosquito Traps needed – DIY for homeowners looking for solutions
As
for other natural alternatives that can be used, there are many, if you are the
DIY (Do It yourself) type of Homeowner.
There
is the use of the Garden croton, Tawa-tawa and Lemon grass extracts to kill Aedes Aegypti Mosquito Larvae as
explained in my blog
article entitled “How
Garden croton, Tawa-tawa and Lemon grass can be used to kill Aedes Aegypti Mosquito Larvae”.
Discovered
by Jerouen Paul Lumabao, a 10th Grade student at Daniel R. Aguinaldo
National High School in Davao City in the Philippines, this organic concoction
can kill Aedes Aegypti Mosquito
Larvae. However Jamaican scientists at the SRC (Scientific Research Council)
would have to do their own analysis into the killing power, concentration
required as well as its toxicity level and resultant effect on humans, plant
and other marine life.
You
don’t have to wait on them; it’s already known that Peppermint Oil kills
insects such as Spiders, Cockroaches, Ants and Wasps and yes Mosquitoes, once
the concentration is high enough as explained in my MICO Wars blog article
entitled “How
to use Mint Oil to ward off Mice and kill Spiders, Cockroaches, Ants and Wasps”.
Finally,
the most practical may also be the most simple, as home owners can do this one
themselves' build a Carbon Dioxide Generator Mosquito Trap as detailed in my blog article
entitled “How
to kill Zika and Yellow Fever mosquitoes using a Carbon Dioxide Generator
Mosquito Trap”.
These
can be scaled up to larger sizes, thus making it possible to kill mosquitoes in
larger numbers than even using Destroyers or even Lemon Grass Candles as
explained in my Geezam blog article entitled “How
to make Environmentally Friendly Citronella (Lemon Grass) Oil for Mosquito
Repellant Lotion and Candles”.
These
solutions, along with the Tiki-Tiki Fish (Gambusia
affinis), will make a dent in the Aedes
Aegypti mosquitoes population and reduce the debilitating effects to the
Zika Virus.
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