Name___________________

The Hazards of Meddling with Food Webs

Borneo in the 1950s was ravaged by malaria. The
World Health Organization (W.H.O.) wanted to end this
epidemic. Since malaria is a mosquito-borne disease,
and the countryside in Borneo is especially conducive
to mosquitoes, the obvious solution (or so it seemed at
the time) was to conduct an extensive campaign of
aerial spraying. As was the practice at the time, DDT
was chosen as the insecticide since it was cheap, easy
to deliver, and was effective against the target animals.

What is WHO and What did they do?

The spraying campaign was carried out. The result was

a dramatic reduction in morbidity and mortality due to
malaria in the rural human populations of Borneo.
However, this improved state of health did not last for
long. People began to suffer from colds and other
effects of exposure to the wet climate. More serious
than this, an outbreak of sylvatic plague soon
developed. Neither of these problems had been
evident before the DDT spraying had taken place.

What was the result of the spraying?

The World Health Organization sent researchers to

investigate the problem and they discovered two
alarming facts. The buildings in which the rural
residents lived had thatch roofs (tightly woven bundles
of straw of other grasses that are layered like shingles
to provide a weather-proof roof). The thatch normally
lasts for years, but was starting to fall apart too fast for
the villagers to replace. Consequently, the villagers,
especially the elderly and very young, were being
exposed to the weather and suffering from colds,
arthritis, pneumonia and other similar problems.

What is a thatch roof?

More worrisome, the rat populations were increasing

rapidly and bringing with them mite- and flea-borne
diseases, like plague. It was only after a careful
investigation of the local food-webs that the
relationship between these two developments and the
spraying of DDT became apparent. DDT severely
reduced the mosquito populations, but it also wiped
out a local species of wasp. This wasp species
controlled the populations of many other local insects,
including a few whose larva feed on dried grasses (such
as thatch). The thatch-eating insects were more
resistant to DDT than the wasps. The end result was
that the thatch-eating insects became more populous
and everyone's roofs began to cave in.

Draw a flow chart showing the sequence of events.

Why did they pick DDT?

What were the two problems that were observed only after
the DDT spraying?

What was the result of the damage to the roofs?

Meanwhile, the DDT also accumulated in the local

insect-eating lizard populations. These lizards were one
of the principal food sources for local cats. The cats
were wiped out, thereby unleashing a ferocious
infestation of rats. The W.H.O. was forced to deal with
both of the problems that it had unwittingly created.

Write down the cause and effect that you see in this passage

It provided funds for villagers to install tin roofs which

solved the thatch problem. This created a few new
problems, especially the extremely loud noise created
by rain hitting the tin roofs. Prolonged, heavy rains
occur most days in this region. The rat problem was
more difficult to deal with. Fortunately, the W.H.O. had
learned a lesson at this point and chose not to kill the
rats using poison. Its solution seems almost comical,
but they ultimately were forced to parachute in 14,000
stray cats to control the rats. This came to be known as
Operation Cat Drop. The really ironic part of this story
is that mosquito populations are once again on the
rise,in spite of DDT use, and malaria is once again
becoming a problem for this region.

What was WHOs solution to the roof problem?

What was WHOs solution to the rat problem?

Reading analysis questions

1) Why were the rats and thatch eating insects less prone to the effects of DDT than the cats or wasps respectively?

2) What is DDT?

3) Why is DDT becoming less effective over time at controlling the mosquito population?

5) Why was it wise for the W.H.O. not to resort to chemical means to control the rat population?

6) Why were cats an especially good choice for a rat-controlling predator as compared to some other animal?

7) Would a different type of insecticide have resulted in fewer side effects?

8) What other solutions to the problem of malaria might have been tried instead of insecticides?