ANKARA 

A senior Hong Kong official said on Wednesday that the semi-autonomous regional government may use "elephant mosquitoes," which feed on the larvae of other mosquitoes rather than blood, to control the spread of chikungunya fever.

On an RTHK radio program, Environment and Ecology Secretary Tse Chin-wan said the approach has been used in Foshan, Guangdong province, China, where a mosquito-borne disease outbreak has been reported.

"As for how to use elephant mosquitoes to eat mosquitoes, that will require the release of a large number of elephant mosquitoes," the secretary said, adding that Hong Kong mosquito-eating fish are effective in areas with many ponds, and Hong Kong already has a large number of such fish.

On Tuesday, Hong Kong recorded its sixth imported case of Chikungunya fever.

"Whether or not it is suitable for Hong Kong to release that many is something we will look into," he said.

He warned of a local outbreak of chikungunya fever cases, citing the increased number of imported cases.

Chikungunya, a mosquito-borne viral disease, is becoming more common, with approximately 240,000 cases reported worldwide since the beginning of the year.

As of July, the virus had been detected in 16 countries and territories in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe, resulting in 90 deaths.

In Asia, the southern Chinese province of Guangdong experienced the most cases of the viral disease this year, with nearly 8,000.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid