Parachuting cats and crushed eggs the controversy over the use of DDT to control malaria.

Publisher: American Public Health Association Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 1254074 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1541-0048 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00900036 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Am J Public Health Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Washington, DC : American Public Health Association
Original Publication: New York [etc.]

Birds* ; Cats* ; Ecosystem* ; Housing* ; Rats* ; World Health Organization*; Anopheles/*drug effects ; DDT/*history ; DDT/*toxicity ; Insecticides/*toxicity ; Malaria/*prevention & control ; Mosquito Control/*history ; Public Health Administration/*history; Animals ; Anopheles/classification ; Anopheles/parasitology ; Borneo/epidemiology ; DDT/administration & dosage ; Dieldrin/administration & dosage ; Dieldrin/toxicity ; Food Chain ; Hexachlorocyclohexane/administration & dosage ; Hexachlorocyclohexane/toxicity ; History, 20th Century ; Humans ; Insect Vectors/drug effects ; Insect Vectors/parasitology ; Insecticide Resistance ; Insecticides/administration & dosage ; Malaria/epidemiology ; Malaria/parasitology ; Mosquito Control/methods ; Species Specificity

The use of DDT to control malaria has been a contentious practice for decades. This controversy centers on concerns over the ecological harm caused by DDT relative to the gains in public health from its use to prevent malaria. Given the World Health Organization's recent policy decisions concerning the use of DDT to control malaria, it is worth reviewing the historical context of DDT use. Ecological concerns focused on evidence that DDT ingestion by predatory birds resulted in eggs with shells so thin they were crushed by adult birds. In addition, DDT spraying to control malaria allegedly resulted in cats being poisoned in some areas, which led to increased rodent populations and, in turn, the parachuting of cats into the highlands of the island of Borneo to kill the rodents, a story that influenced the decision to ban DDT spraying. I focus on this story with the intention of grounding the current debate on lessons from the past.

Comment in: Am J Public Health. 2009 Aug;99(8):1350-1; author reply 1351. (PMID: 19542027)

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0 (Insecticides)
59NEE7PCAB (Hexachlorocyclohexane)
CIW5S16655 (DDT)
I0246D2ZS0 (Dieldrin)

Date Created: 20080919 Date Completed: 20081104 Latest Revision: 20231103

20240829

PMC2636426

10.2105/AJPH.2007.122523

18799776