The Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC)has conducted field tests on two kinds of imported mosquito repellents.
During the test carried out on Tuesday (Jul 6)around 84-100 percent mosquitoes were knocked out, suggesting that the medicines are likely to be effective.
The two medicines are: Tagros Chemical India's Malathion 5% RFU and Deltamethrin 1.25% ULV, which will be imported in bulk after a screening process.
The repellents were tested on three netted boxes with 50 mosquitoes each that were either knocked out or dead after 20 minutes.
The test found Malathion 5% to be 92 percent effective in box one, and 100 percent effective in the second and third box.
Meanwhile, Deltamethrin 1.25% knocked out 84 percent mosquitoes in the first box, 92 percent in the second and 82 percent in the third.
The DSCC also tested the repellent its currently using which was 90 percent effective in the first sample, 100 percent in the second and 84 percent in the third.
These netted boxes were then sealed-off and the mosquitoes will be counted again after 24 hours.
According to DSCC chief procurement officer Md Nuruzzaman if 80 percent are found dead, the repellents will be considered effective.
However, they will require further scrutiny before being imported. The samples will be sent to the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control And Research (IEDCR) and Agricultural Extension Department for further testing.
The reports will be sent to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and based on their recommendation, the repellents will be brought in.
"In today's test over 80 percent mosquitoes were knocked out. Hence we can say that they are primarily being considered effective," said Md Nuruzzaman.
He said that the Aedes and Culex larvae were collected from Keraniganj and bred into fully fledged mosquitoes for testing.
On Friday, DSCC carried out tests on another repellent 'Aque k Delthrean (Deltamethrin) 2%EW’ by Buyer Corporation, another Indian company but it proved ineffective with 18 to 26 percent mosquitoes being killed.