Increase in mosquito population in Westmoreland
Published:Tuesday | October 15, 2024 | 2:57 PM
The Westmoreland Health Department is urging increased vigilance against mosquito breeding as the parish sees an increase in the Aedes index.
Chief Public Health Inspector for Westmoreland, Steve Morris, said that the aedes index moved to 9.7 per cent in September up from 8.44 per cent in August.
“We have been getting a lot of rains and so persons not only collect water in drums but there are other containers around the home which are also holding water and are breeding mosquitoes,” he noted.
Morris was addressing the monthly meeting of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation, which was held at the corporation's offices in Savanna-la-Mar on October 10.
The Aedes index refers to the percentage of premises or homes in a limited, well-defined space, where actual breeding of the Aedes aegypti mosquito is found and the total number of houses examined in that area.
The Aedes aegypti mosquito is responsible for the spread of dengue fever, and the Zika and chikungunya viruses.
Morris said the increase in the index “means that residents are not doing as we are instructing them to do, which is... to search and destroy breeding sites in and around the homes. If we are seeing increases in breeding in containers, it means that we are not doing what we should do”.
“This is something that we must continue to be preaching because our daily notifications are not going down; they are increasing,” he pointed out.
Morris informed that the department has 16 working fogging machines and continues to maintain a regular fogging schedule throughout the parish.
Persons collecting rainwater for domestic use are encouraged to ensure the containers are covered with mesh and other materials that will keep mosquitoes out.
Water storage containers should also be inspected for mosquito larvae at least once per week.
If larvae are found in the containers, a small amount of cooking oil should be poured on the water's surface.
- JIS News
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