Caro Mario Carvalho,
Sobre a introdução da G a m b u s i a , acho que este texto é lapidar:
"Portugal, like several other European countries, had high incidence rates of this disease until the end of the first half of the 20th century. Although the disease has been eliminated, the former malaria vector Anopheles atroparvus Van Theil, 1927 (Cambournac, 1942) is still abundant all through the country Ribeiro et al., 1988; Almeida et al., 2008.
The distribution in Portugal of An. atroparvus, and of other members of the Anopheles maculipennis species complex, has been the object of several studies (e.g. Pires et al., 1982; Ribeiro et al., 1992).
However, the continuous representation of this species distribution is currently unknown. Since vector control has been and continues to be a commonly used strategy in malaria control (Muturi et al., 2008), this kind of information can be very valuable in the against the disease, should it occur again.
In Portugal, where malaria transmission was mosquito-density dependent, several anti-vector measures were adopted such as the introduction of the mosquito fish G a m b u s i a , intermittent rice field irrigation, improvement of the rice field workers’ accommodations (appliance of protective nets in beds, doors and windows) and indoor residual spraying with DDT (Bruce-Chwatt and Zulueta,1977; Borges, 2001). The implementation of these measures along with patients treatment resulted in a large reduction of the incidence of the disease, which was declared “eradicated” from the country by the WHO in 1973. Since then, despite an isolated case in 1975 (Antunes et al., 1987), the occurrence of the disease is exclusively in the form of imported cases."
in "Present habitat suitability for Anopheles Atroparvus Diptera, Culicidae) and its coincidence with former malaria areas in mainland Portugal César Capinha1, Eduardo Gomes2, Eusébio Reis1, Jorge Rocha1, Carla A. Sousa3, V. E.do Rosário2, A. Paulo Almeida3. (1Centro de Estudos Geográficos, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa,Portugal; 2CMDT-LA, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Rua da Junqueira, 96, 1349-008 Lisboa, Portugal; 3Unidade de Entomologia Médica, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Rua da Junqueira, 96, 1349-008 Lisboa, Portugal).
Sem querer entrar em discussão, sempre me parece melhor a manutenção deste anti-vector do que o uso de insecticidas químicos...
Cumps.