Gambusia fish bite back
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Post-Katrina: Abandoned swimming pools now filled with pitch black, contaminated
waters are becoming mass breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
Bug Buster volunteers empty bags of mosquito fish into an abandoned pool.
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NEW ORLEANS - A rotten stench wafts from the pitch black water that stands in an estimated 2,000
abandoned swimming pools in Orleans parish. The devastating effects
of Hurricane Katrina have now turned the once cool, blue-water, play places into contaminated reservoirs
filled with sewage, debris and millions of mosquito larvae.
"It's a toxic stew," said Bill Horan, president of Operation Blessing. "Everyone of these pools is like a
mosquito factory."
Left untouched, the millions of larvae surfacing in these contaminated pools will not only spawn
an out of control mosquito population, but they also pose a threat of potentially deadly virus
outbreaks among Louisiana residents.
Steve Sackett, research entomologist and field superintendent for the New Orleans Mosquito and
Termite Control Board approached Operation Blessing for a solution: mosquito fish.
Gambusia affinis, commonly referred to as "mosquito fish," are considered to be one of the most
effective non-insecticidal and non-chemical methods of controlling mosquitoes, generally requiring
no feeding or additional care. They breed throughout the summer and new broods are produced at about
six week intervals. Females can produce anywhere from 12 to 70 babies each.
"The Gambusia fish eat mosquito larvae and offer a long-term solution to this mosquito problem,"
Sackett said. "The fish can live in water with low oxygen levels, breathing air if necessary. They
are prolific breeders that are extremely durable."
Earlier this week, Operation Blessing officially launched "Bug Busters," purchasing fish,
equipment, and coordinating volunteers to execute the program. "Bug Buster" teams of volunteers from
Campus Crusade, Americorps and the New Orleans Mosquito Control Board filled 250 bags with Gambusia,
loaded them into coolers and dumped thousands of the mosquito-larvae eating fish into abandoned
pools throughout New Orleans.
That’s good news for residents of New Orleans who, as OBI president Horan notes, have already
suffered enough from the devastating effects of Katrina.
"We’re talking about preventing hoards of mosquitoes from being released on people now living in
FEMA trailers who don’t have the luxury of screened-in porches," he said.
In addition to overseeing the purchase and distribution of the mosquito fish, OBI continues to
provide recovery to residents through house gutting, tree and debris removal, feeding kitchens and a
free medical and dental clinic.
Operating out of their regional command center in Slidell, strategically located in proximity to
the hardest hit areas, OBI transformed a 22,000 square-foot shopping center into their base of
operations where they store relief supplies for distribution; process hundreds of daily work orders;
strategize recovery efforts with local government officials, FEMA and partnering agencies; and
provide full accommodations to house and feed the hundreds of volunteers arriving weekly. The center
has full time staff and accommodates as many as 335 volunteers per week.
How You Can Help
Be a part of OBI's ongoing disaster relief efforts by making an
online donation today and help those affected by the Gulf Coast hurricanes. For volunteer opportunities with
OBI in the Gulf Coast, click here.
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