Army to Provide Biological Pesticides to Flood-hit Areas
by Naba Batool
SHARES
According to the latest reports, Sindh and Balochistan have acquired a hundred kilograms of biological insecticides from the Armed Forces of Pakistan to combat waterborne diseases in the flood-hit areas.
This biological pesticide is further used to cater for the mosquito and their larvae. The federal health officials in a press release said that “Provincial governments of Sindh and Balochistan have procured several hundred kilograms of biological pesticide ‘Moskill’ developed by the Defense Science and Technology Organisation (DESTO),"
Pakistan Armed Forces have been using this biological pesticide to curb mosquitoes in their establishments.
WHO has also warned about the water-borne outbreak in the 32 flood-hit areas of Sindh and Balochistan. Health officials are concerned about the statistics of malaria cases in the region fearing that if it is not catered to on time, this might culminate into a bigger problem by Jan 2023.
To prevent more malaria cases in the regions, NHS officials have decided to apply Moskil on an experimental basis. This pesticide contains ‘Bacillus thuringiensis’, it is a known larvicidal bacterium that is present in the soil.
According to the officials ‘’Bacillus thuringiensis is a naturally occurring soil bacteria and it is successfully being used by the United States, Canada, China, India and various other countries in Europe and Africa. DESTO has indigenously developed its Bacillus thuringiensis-based product Bti-Pk from bacteria obtained from local strains of Pakistan. This product kills mosquito larvae in the stagnant waters and stops the growth and spread of all kinds of mosquitoes''
Moskil is an environmentally-friendly product which is approved by DRAP and EPA.
