Kudus Residents Invented Mini Fogging Devices From Bird Sprayers To Eradicate DHF Mosquitoes

Heru Rusiyanto, mini fogging equipment maker (Photo: Akhmad Nazaruddin Lathif/Antara)

JAKARTA - Residents of Undaan Subdistrict, Kudus Regency, created a mini fogging device that is affordable and easy to operate to eradicate mosquitoes that cause dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) following the increase in cases of dengue fever.

According to Heru Rusiyanto, a maker of mini fogging equipment from Undaan Lor Village, Undaan District, in Kudus, Tuesday, the idea to make the fogging device started with the number of mosquitoes in his house.

After seeing e-cigarettes with small tools that can emit a lot of smoke, I finally tried to make a tool that was large in size by looking for materials that could be used to make it.

As a result, he said, in 2019 he was able to make a mini fogging device by combining a bird sprayer with a food burner or gas torch as well as a homemade coil using a small copper pipe to drain the fogging liquid which later came out in the form of smoke.

To operate it is also quite easy because the bird sprayer is filled with mosquito repellent liquid which can be purchased at agricultural drugstores or online markets.

After being pumped it is then sprayed until the liquid comes out through the coil, then the torch gas is turned on to heat the coil in which there is mosquito repellent liquid.

"After the combustion process is carried out, a large amount of smoke will come out so that it is easy to operate at home without having to wait for the Public Health Center fumigation team to come to the environment to be sprayed," he said, as quoted by Antara, Tuesday, January 11.

The selling price of the mini smoking machine is affordable because only Rp250 thousand can get it. It's just that, for shipping outside the city without a gas-liquid bottle because it can't be sent via a package delivery service.

"Now I am in this business because in December 2021 I managed to sell 200 units through online markets, such as Tokopedia and Lazada as well as through retailers," he said.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Kudus DPRD, Masan, appreciated the Kudus residents who had succeeded in creating a simple tool that was very useful in eradicating mosquitoes, especially those carrying the dengue virus.

"If you rely on the fumigation team from the Health Office and the local Health Center, of course it can't be done quickly because the bureaucracy is too complicated. Meanwhile, the mosquitoes that cause dengue fever have actually attacked many Kudus residents," he said.

Based on data from the Kudus Health Office, there were 175 cases of dengue fever in 2021, or higher than the number of cases during the previous year which recorded only 40 cases. Meanwhile, there are three cases of death in 2021.