A Philippines village has resorted to paying bounties for mosquitoes in a bid to deal with a Dengue Fever outbreak.
A video shared on 19 February says the strategy is just one of many adopted to ensure that the outbreak is effectively contained to prevent further mortalities.
Participants in the bounty are offered one Philippine Peso for every five mosquitoes or mosquito laevae they can trap and provide to the authorities as an incentive to mop up the population of mosquitoes which are the vectors of the disease.
A race to survive
Dengue fever is caused primarily by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The disease is most commonly found in tropical and sub-tropical climates within which the Philippines falls.
According to reports, the number of cases in the has increased by 40% from 2024 to at least 28,234 recorded in the Philippines this year as of 1 February.
Addition Hills village in Mandaluyong City with more than 100,000 residents living in crowded neighborhoods and residential condominium towers has done clean-ups, canal de-clogging, a hygiene campaign, and the bounty is the latest strategy.
The idea was conceived by the village head Carlito Cernal who went on with the strategy despite criticisms that it may not work.
Yielding results
Since the start of the bounty, about a dozen mosquito hunters have come to the village office, including 64-year-old Miguel Labag who brought a jug with 45 dark mosquito larvae.
The number of Dengue cases surged suddenly, raising concerns as 10 persons, mostly children, died out of nearly 2,000 cases recorded in Quezon City.
The program was initiated primarily to take care of the spread of the disease ahead of the rainy season starting in June, and will end as soon as the spike in cases is over.
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