Mosquito-eating fish being used to fight the spread of Zika virus in Latin America

Sambo fishes are seen in a bottle before being distributed for a mosquito control project at San Diego village in La Libertad, El Salvador on Feb. 2, 2016. Reuters

Governments have been using various tools to fight the spread of the Zika virus in Latin America: fumigation, spraying of insecticides and even a plan to distribute mosquito repellents to athletes during the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Some Christian aid workers, however, are exploring an all-natural way to prevent this public health emergency from further escalating, and they are using something fishy, literally.

Aid workers from the non-profit humanitarian organisation Operation Blessing, which is affiliated with the Christian Broadcasting Network, are distributing the indigenous Sambo fish to residents in Latin America at risk of the Zika virus infection.

This fish, native to El Salvador, is known for feeding on mosquitoes—the same insects that transmit the virus said to be causing physical deformities to babies.

Operation Blessing International President Bill Horan was the one who came up with this unique solution to the Zika virus threat. The same fish was also used to fight mosquito-related diseases in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans.

"We are using them, we're distributing them, and we are helping a woman who is raising them down there. But in Mexico now we have the okay right from the cabinet level of the Mexican government to use Gambuja that are found locally in Mexico to eat mosquito larvae," Horan explained, as quoted by CBN.com.

Horan added that some techniques currently being employed to prevent the spread of the Zika virus, such as the use of mosquito bed nets, do not do much to contain these disease-carrying insects.

"Mosquito bed nets are not as effective as they were for most because the Aedes Aegypti sleeps at night. They don't bite often at night. These mosquitoes are especially active right at dawn for about two hours and just before dark for about two hours," he said.

Horan even met with First Lady Ana Hernandez of Honduras to get her support on the mosquito-eating fish project in her nation.

"We're doing a great service, we're saving lives," the group's leader said. "We're eliminating suffering and we're going after this disease at its source, but wherever Zika goes, Operation Blessing is going to go also."

Operation Blessing's Tony Cece said residents in Latin America have begun using the Sambo fish in their homes, because it is all-natural and very hassle-free.

"They're putting the fish in their sinks and into containers like this. Now this one is being used to store the Sambo fish, but in homes they use it to store water," Cece also told CBN.com

"And one of the problems is these are the breeding grounds for the Aedis Aegypti larvae, which are the mosquitoes that carry the viruses like Chicken Gunyan, dengue, and now Zika," he continued.

related articles
Pope agrees to contraception in emergency cases like preventing Zika virus infection, Vatican confirms
Pope agrees to contraception in emergency cases like preventing Zika virus infection, Vatican confirms

Pope agrees to contraception in emergency cases like preventing Zika virus infection, Vatican confirms

U.N. pushes countries to prioritise LGBT rights, abortion as part of its global plan
U.N. pushes countries to prioritise LGBT rights, abortion as part of its global plan

U.N. pushes countries to prioritise LGBT rights, abortion as part of its global plan

Catholic ethics body: Zika virus outbreak does not justify \'intrinsically immoral\' use of contraceptives
Catholic ethics body: Zika virus outbreak does not justify 'intrinsically immoral' use of contraceptives

Catholic ethics body: Zika virus outbreak does not justify 'intrinsically immoral' use of contraceptives

Worse birth defects from Zika feared: Baby with virtually no brain dies inside mother\'s womb
Worse birth defects from Zika feared: Baby with virtually no brain dies inside mother's womb

Worse birth defects from Zika feared: Baby with virtually no brain dies inside mother's womb

News
The woeful ignorance of Justin Welby - Part Two 
The woeful ignorance of Justin Welby - Part Two 

Polyamory and open marriages are the next frontier for progressives. Yet the Church seems to be sleeping at the wheel.

Christian family expelled from Indian village after forced conversion attempt
Christian family expelled from Indian village after forced conversion attempt

Chhattisgarh is increasingly becoming a concerning place for Christians

Ugandan Christian convert killed by Muslim relatives while praying at home
Ugandan Christian convert killed by Muslim relatives while praying at home

A 37-year-old Christian convert in eastern Uganda was killed by members of his own family on Friday 18 July after they forced their way into his home and found him praying in the name of Jesus, according to local sources.

The Bible and food: why it's so much more than eating
The Bible and food: why it's so much more than eating

Eating - and eating together - is never a side note in the biblical story. It is one of the ways God forms community, renews covenant, and reveals Himself.