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As a way to contain the outbreak of dengue in China, authorities started to use an invasive fish species to prey on mosquito larvae.
Guangzhou Municipality's water bureau resorted to putting mosquito-larvae-eating fish in "controllable" bodies of water, even though the fish is known for harming native species in the world.
Despite the positive intent of the intervention, professors at local universities have growing concern about the method breaking the ecological balance.
National Aquatic Wildlife Conservation Association Chairman Li Yanliang said that the impact of the fish must be controlled.
"The best solution to the dengue problem is to improve the overall environment," Li said.
The water bureau responded by saying that curbing the quantity of the foreign fish will secure the environment's safety. The bureau said, however, that they did not have knowledge about the quantity of fish that was thrown into the waters of Guangzhou.
The local media reported that over 54,000 of the mosquitofish were introduced into the waters of one district in Guangzhou.
Cases of dengue fever first surged in Guangzhou in September. More than 27,000 cases have been reported, including an additional 1,552 new cases last Saturday, according to Guangzhou's family planning and provincial health commission.
As of Monday, a total of 31,136 dengue cases have been confirmed.
