SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Shawwal 17, 1437, July 22, 2016, SPA -- Puerto Rico's governor announced Friday that he will not authorize aerial spraying with the insecticide naled to fight an increase in Zika cases as U.S. health officials have urged, according to AP. Instead, Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla said he will support the spraying of Bti, an organic larvicide. He said it should be sufficient to fight the mosquito-borne virus along with other ongoing efforts, but hoped no child would be "born with congenital defects because of the decision I took." Puerto Ricans in recent weeks have organized several protests against the use of naled, raising concerns about its potential effects on people and wildlife. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently said Puerto Rico lacked an integrated mosquito control program as it fights what it called a silent epidemic. So far, Puerto Rico has 5,582 Zika cases and is seeing a 20-30 percent weekly increase in those cases, said Health Secretary Ana Rius. --SPA 23:34 LOCAL TIME 20:34 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w