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Blane White
MN Dept of Agriculture
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>>> [log in to unmask] 12/04/00 01:31PM >>>
Lloyd Spears wrote:

> I certainly think the person who discovered DDT deserved a Nobel
> Prize.  How many millions of people were saved from death from
> Yellow Fever and Malaria?

"Malaria is still killing people by the millions. The best guess
estimate is that at least one million people die each year due to
the lack of use of DDT."

Just a comment:  The reason DDT is no longer used for vector control is that is no longer works - resistance has developed.  On  the other hand India has had considerable success suppressing mosquito populations using guppies.  The small fish are placed in temporary ponds and puddles that mosquitos use for breeding.  A side benefit is that the mosquitos don't develop resistance so the same program can keep going and expanding over time.  Reports are a 70% reduction in malaria as I recall.  From a small news report in Scientific American a while back.

FWIW

Just like beekeeping there is more than one way to manage mosquito populations.

blane