DC Press: Frogs Combat Deadly Fever?

[Herp News]

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC (Washington, DC) 07 July 09 Frogs Combat Deadly Fever?
An Argentine official is suggesting people adopt mosquito-munching frogs—not chemicals—as a solution to an outbreak of the disease dengue fever, which is spread by the insects.
In Argentina, the small city of San Luis is adopting the frog as its provincial hero.
Frogs are being touted by some as the antidote to a dengue fever outbreak thats gripped Argentina. There have been over 20,000 cases recorded this year, including at least 5 deaths.
Local Councillor Daniel Sosa says one frog can eat about 15,000 insects, including mosquitoes, in a single season. Mostquitoes are the carriers of the disease.
He wants people to adopt a frog and forget the widely used chemical controls.
SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Daniel Sosa, Councillor, San Luis, Argentina "What we want is a biological control so the aero-toxins do not kill us. In the end we will not be killed by the dengue but we will actually be killed by the aero-toxins, we will be killed by the aerosols, by the pesticides. So we have to begin to look for biological mechanisms and the frog is one of them."
Sosa is giving them away, encouraging locals to put them in their gardens.
While not everyone has been jumping at the prospect of taking one home, local residents have been receiving them with amused curiosity.
SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Maria Ferro, Local Resident, San Luis, Argentina "The truth is that I do not want to take one to my house, I am impressed but well if it is a way to prevent it, well what else can I do?."
SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Luciana Compte, Local Resident, San Luis, Argentina "Everything serves and its cost is zero. Because the repellents are really expensive and not everyone has the money to buy them."
According to a local newspaper a farmer in a nearby village had the original idea.
He was convinced the repopulation of the amphibians in the heavily forested area would provide a clean answer to the long legged mosquito.
Miguel Angel says that in contrast to the toxic methods widely used to combat the mosquito, a frog is a friend to the health of people.
SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Miguel Angel, Local Farmer, San Luis, Argentina "A frog is a form of defense, that's the first thing and secondly in my opinion if I may say... all this chemical stuff and all that is a waste of space, because you know why, because when the insect gets the scent it goes away from where is the defense and the mosquito is no more there. Only when he is a top or he is really caught with the spray, but other than that it doesn't provide anything...he is gone and keeps going...you get me. Another thing I believe, is all this chemical combination does nothing good for the health of the people as it contaminates the air."
Despite the region having large numbers of frogs in the past, today there are very few as a consequence of changes in their natural habitat and years of fumigation.
A newer strain of the disease appears resistant to the chemical controls, and the amphibian population continues to decline.
Some say that increased air travel, as well as Argentinas recent agricultural expansions have played a role in the epidemic.
Land clearing for food production has disrupted large parts of the country's ecological balance.
Despite the enthusiasm for biological controls, there are some words of caution.
SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ana Brigada, Biologist, Universidad Nacional de San Luis "In accordance with the autonomous population here it must not be misunderstood that we do not try to introduce species that are not natural to our region, because we have to take care with a representative number in each region, and we have to study them previously because it just might be that they occupy the nests of the native species and with that we would produce a real ecological crisis."
Whether frog heroes, or pawns in a misguided plan, the amphibian residents of San Luis have been truly thrown into the spotlight.
Frogs Combat Deadly Fever?

[Herp News]

Ooops, me bad. Mr Farnen (SludgeMonkey) post a link to the same item a fortnight ago.
Grovel!
I just get so-o-o excited at times!
Wes