THE Health Ministry has prescribed a preventive measure against dengue: put fish in your swimming pools. The agency said the fish would help eliminate the breeding grounds of mosquitoes on the island.

Already, it has asked hotels and resorts here as well as on Koh Tao and Koh Phangan to put fishes in their swimming pools.

Thirty five hotels and resorts have reportedly signed up for this novel project to place fish in their pools to prevent them from becoming breeding grounds of mosquito larvae.

The project was proposed by the ministry’s department of disease control. Public Health Deputy Minister Panasiri Kulanatsiri, during a recent visit to Koh Samui, said it was essential for island residents and business operators to comply with preventive measures to eliminate the mosquitoes’ breeding grounds.

Statistics at the Health Ministry showed there were over 19,000 confirmed cases of dengue fever in Thailand for the first half of this year alone. Twenty-two patients have died from the disease.

In the southern provinces there were 4,549 dengue cases reported, while Koh Samui and its neighboring islands registered 46. Dengue fever is a viral disease transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti, which breeds in containers with stagnant water.

According to Dr. Panasiri, dengue fever is a disease the Thai people should not worry about as it is not too late to prevent it.

The deputy minister said making sure there is no danger of dengue in destinations like Samui, Phuket, Krabi, and Phang Nga will boost the confidence of tourists to visit these places.

The preventive-measure project began in May and will end next month. The department of disease control said hotels and resorts that pass the evaluation in September will receive certificates.