In Colombia, the Secretariat of Health of Cali and the Universidad del Valle have formed a strategic alliance to combat vector-borne diseases, particularly dengue, using a small natural predator: the guppy fish (Poecilia reticulata).
This project has been positioned as a pioneering work that unites science and public health to overcome the epidemiological crisis. Last Thursday, October 30th, the inauguration of the guppy fish zoocriadero was held. This strategy is part of an integrated vector management approach of public health importance, with an emphasis on biological control.
Professor González emphasizes the importance of keeping the fish in these environments to prevent the proliferation of mosquito larvae, which makes this method a clean, healthy, effective, and proven solution: "The idea is that live predators, in this case, we have been using guppy fish, feed heavily on mosquito larvae and can consume about 100 larvae in a day."
The university, as a central breeding station The academia not only provides the scientific basis but also the logistics. By combining their technical and scientific capabilities, the Health Secretariat and the Universidad del Valle strengthen the breeding of guppies, ensuring that this sustainable and non-toxic method is maintained over time for mosquito population control.
The District Secretary of Health, Germán Escobar Morales, confirmed that the city managed to overcome the dengue outbreak of 2023-2024 thanks to various strategies, among which the planting of these fish in almost all ornamental water sources and large water deposits, such as abandoned building pools, stood out.
The event was attended by members of the subgroup for the prevention, surveillance, and control of vector-borne diseases of the Cali District Health Secretariat, led by Secretary Germán Escobar Morales. Professionals from the Department of Biology of the Faculty of Natural and Exact Sciences, and from the section of Various Services and Environmental Management of the Universidad del Valle, were also present.
The Meléndez University Campus has become a strategic center for the development of this program, contributing technical, institutional, and human talent capacity. The area is home to four species of mosquitoes that can be transmitters of multiple viruses (including dengue, zika, Chikungunya, Oropouche, among others).
The focus of the fight is on the most common breeding grounds: tree holes, abandoned containers, and mainly, storm drains. Initially, the fish breeding was carried out at the Experimental Biology Station; however, due to the particular conditions of that space and access restrictions, it was decided to adapt a place at the Waste Classification and Storage Station (ECA), managed by professionals from the Environmental Management System, to move the tanks with the fry and ensure the entry of Health Secretariat officials in charge of planting the fish in the campus storm drains.
Professor Andrés Castillo, head of the Department of Biology of the Faculty of Natural and Exact Sciences, highlights the conditions of the Meléndez campus: "it facilitates making quantitative, numerical, statistical research, to then have more exact data on the impact of this strategy," which is complementary to other existing ones to combat this dengue virus-transmitting vector and has shown very positive results so far.
Operators at the Experimental Station. In turn, Estefanía Ruiz, coordinator of the Universidad del Valle's Environmental Management System, specified that the team of professionals works in synergy with Health Secretariat officials, accompanying in a first phase the identification and georeferencing of the storm drains within the Meléndez campus, and more recently, with the relocation of the breeding tanks to the ECA.
The planting of guppies complements other district actions such as fumigation, breeding site control, and the process of information and education for communities, states the undersecretary of health promotion, prevention, and social projection, Carlos Alberto Pinzón Flores, who highlighted that the project has been evolving and maturing for about seven years.
The ultimate goal of this strategy is the empowerment of communities in caring for their environments, especially for clean water receptacles and the proper management of mosquito bites. Ranulfo González, a full professor at the Universidad del Valle's Department of Biology, explains that the university campus is an ideal setting to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method.
