BAGUIO CITY - The Department of Science and Technology-Benguet (DOST-Benguet) launched the Ovicidal/Larvicidal (OL-Trap) System developed by the DOST-Industrial Technology Development Institute (DOST-ITDI) to fight dengue fever right down to households where the health menace starts.

DOST-Benguet SRS I Pepito Toning said that that the mosquito trap is a system used to control the population of the dengue virus-carrying Aedes mosquitoes.

Barangay Pico is the first barangay in the region to acquire the OL-Trap which accumulated a total of 2,700 larvae. The OL-Trap Kit includes three components: a black tumbler, a lawanit board and organic pellets. Each recipient-household received a set of four OL-Trap kits and a six-month supply of organic pellets formulated by DOST-ITDI.

“Barangay Pico has the highest number of dengue cases here in Benguet and we are optimistic that this project will help decrease the number of dengue virus-carrying mosquitoes and subsequently bring down the number of dengue cases in Pico,” explained Toning.

The month-long field test in Pico aims to validate the effectiveness of the OL-Trap. The kits in Pico will be collected every fifth day of each week for laboratory examination of the DOST.

OL-trap is designed to significantly shrink the reproductive activities of mosquitoes through lure-and-catch system. Only the female Aedes mosquito carries the dengue virus. It feeds on proteins from human blood to be able to produce and lay as many as 200 eggs in one laying cycle. It lives for only three to four weeks and lays eggs thrice during its lifetime.

It would only take a few hours for the eggs to hatch, about 80 percent of them are female, and almost a week for the larva to become adult mosquito.

“The larvicide solution makes the OL-Trap work, it has scent that invites female mosquitoes to the trap where they lay eggs and as the eggs and the hatched larvae ("wrigglers") are exposed to the solution, they die,” Toning said.

The OL-Trap's ovicidal and larvicidal effects prevent the next generation of mosquitoes from reaching adulthood, thus curbing the Aedes mosquito population.

From January to April 30, a total of 348 confirmed dengue cases with one death in the region.

The province of Kalinga recorded the highest number of cases this year with 91, followed by Benguet with 62, then Baguio City with 47.

There were 39 cases recorded in Abra and 23 in Mountain Province while 11 confirmed cases were recorded in Apayao. The 28 other dengue cases involved patients who are not residents of the region but were admitted in hospitals in the locality. – Roief Reyes and Mary Meenally Arpon