Herbicide deadly, not to ward off mosquitos: CDC

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter





The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday strongly condemned a newspaper for publishing a letter advising people to ingest a small amount of the highly toxic herbicide paraquat to prevent mosquito bites and reduce the risk of death from dengue fever.

The CDC said it has asked for the letter to be removed from the newspaper’s Web site and that it would report the situation to the police, as it might constitute a breach of Article 63 of the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), which stipulates punishments for spreading rumors that might undermine public peace and order.

The Chinese-language newspaper last week published the letter sent by a person surnamed Chen (陳), who claimed to be a student at National Taiwan University’s Institute of Biotechnology.

Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang speaks at the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Taipei on Friday. Photo: CNA

Chen wrote that Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) should use paraquat to fight dengue fever.

The letter said that ingesting 3 milliliters (ml) of paraquat can eliminate the risk of mosquito bites in dengue patients and greatly reduce the risk of death from the disease.

Han last month criticized a Council of Agriculture plan to ban paraquat in February — although the plan was postponed for a year — saying it would increase production costs for farmers.

“Paraquat is highly toxic, so the fake news not only misleads people, it could also cause deaths,” Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said on Friday, referring to the letter.

The CDC would file a lawsuit against its author, Chen Shih-chung said.

Paraquat is highly toxic and can cause acute and permanent damage to the body, Taipei Veterans General Hospital department of clinical toxicology and occupational medicine director Yang Chen-chang (楊振昌) said.

Ingesting only 10ml to 15ml of the herbicide could be fatal, Yang said.

Taking even a small amount of paraquat or diluted paraquat solution orally can cause severe mouth ulcers, kidney failure, hepatic insufficiency, histogenous hypoxia and death due to respiratory failure, he said, adding that there is no antidote for acute paraquat intoxication, which has a mortality rate of 60 to 70 percent.

There is no known treatment for dengue other than supportive measures, so people should take medicine prescribed by a doctor, rest and drink plenty of water, the CDC said.

Symptoms usually last about one to two weeks before the patient recovers completely, the centers said.

However, people should avoid mosquito bites in the first five days after the onset of the disease, it said.