Saving Seafood

New Jersey’s secret weapon against Zika

July 7, 2016 — As the New Jersey Department of Health continues its push to educate the public and the medical community about the threat to pregnant women posed by the Zika virus, the state Department of Environmental Protection is ramping up efforts to clamp down on Jersey’s mosquito population.

Experts believe the Aedes aegypti type of mosquito, usually associated with Zika transmission, may be in New Jersey, while a close relative, Aedes albopictus, is definitely here, and it has been known in the past to transmit the disease, which can cause severe birth defects.

“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,” said NJ DEP Commissioner Bob Martin.

A big part of that effort involves using fish that eat mosquito eggs.

Read the full story at New Jersey 101.5

NEW JERSEY: Gloucester County Calls Out Fish To Fend Off Zika Virus

May 11, 2016 — WEST DEPTFORD, NJ —  A batch of 5,000 little fish have a big battle ahead of them in West Deptford Township and hopefully they are hungry. As warm and muggy summer months approach, so  does a heightened risk for the spread of dangerous mosquito transmitted viruses.

South Jersey is starting its annual war against mosquitoes with a little extra urgency.

“It’s even more important with the increase of the Zika virus coming this way and the effects that is having on human life and unborn lives,” said Gloucester County Freeholder Director, Robert M. Damminger.

The Zika virus is carried by mosquitos from a person who is infected to others. Images of the effects it has had globally are as well-known  as they are heartbreaking.

Read the full story at CBS Philly

U.S. charity deploying fish to front lines of fight against Zika

VIRGINIA (March 17, 2016) –The Zika virus is spreading around the globe, becoming a major health crisis, and now one humanitarian organization is deploying mosquito-eating fish throughout Central America in an effort to stop the epidemic.

The virus has triggered outbreaks in recent months in 41 countries and is transmitted by mosquitos which thrive in pools of standing water. Normally, Zika causes fever and rashes and not much more, but there is a particularly alarming link between the virus and a rare neurological syndrome that can be fatal, Guillain-Barré, as well as an increase of babies born with abnormally small heads.

To combat the mosquitoes, Operation Blessing International, a Christian humanitarian organization based in Virginia, is deploying small gambusia or Sambo fish in cities and villages throughout El Salvador and Mexico. The fish feast on the larva of the Aedes aegypti mosquitos, which carries Zika, dengue and yellow fever.

Read the full story at Fox News Latino