HEALTH officials will set sail for the Pedro Cays at least four times for the year, as the Ministry of Health moves to regularise its malaria prevention expeditions to the community of about 400 fisherfolk.

“You will see the mission at least every three months or so,” Health Minister Horace Dalley told the Observer yesterday.

A team of officials on Tuesday visited the Cays on a fact finding-mission during which they collected blood samples and carried out fever surveillance. The group – which was instructed by the health minister to visit the cays – also handed out preventative supplies during the visit.

“The ministry thought that it [Pedro Cays] was a high risk area where foreigners sometimes stop over…it’s important for us to check out and do a routine surveillance of all the fishing points,” said Dr Andrew Salmon, head doctor for the mission. Salmon and his group combed the area in an effort to have all the residents tested.

The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) Coast Guard was also a part of the mission, and the soldiers who operate from the Pedro Cays barracks were also tested.

The team left the cays with some 200 samples for testing.

“After the blood samples are obtained we’ll take them back to our labs…if there are any possible cases we’ll notify those persons and treat them,” said Salmon.

The Pedro Cays comprise three small sand banks – ‘Top Cay’, ‘Middle Cay’ and ‘Bird Cay’ – only the first two are inhabited. The cays are located approximately 80 km southwest of Jamaica and are considered a part of Kingston and St Andrew. Tuesday’s trip to Pedro Cays, Salmon said, was the first in a series of visits to Jamaica’s offshore areas, including Rocky Point, Port Royal Cays and the Morant Cays.

Data from Ministry of Agriculture’s fisheries division reveal that approximately 773 fisherfolk are registered to operate on Jamaica’s major cays.

“It’s very important for us to ensure that all parts of our country are malaria-free…all measures must be taken to ensure that this is achieved,” Salmon told the Observer during the visit to Pedro Cays.

The Ministry of Agriculture was also a part of the expedition, and its officials performed a search-and-destroy operation on the potential breeding sites of the Anopheles mosquitoes, which carry the malaria parasite.

“We’ll not just fog, we’ll do an extensive search for the breeding sites today [Tuesday] and hopefully rid the Cays of any threat,” Salmon said. He added that he was confident that the fogging would not affect the wildlife on the Cays, since “that has not been the case on the mainland”.

But while the health ministry had previously recorded only one case from the Pedro Cays , residents had mixed reactions to Tuesday’s expedition.

“No malaria nuh deh yah… although dem seh one man lef’ yahsuh wid it, him nuh ketch it yah. A mainland him get that,” said one fisherman who identified himself as ‘Bwoyus’.

But Rohan de Leon welcomed the malaria-prevention exercise, noting that “it’s only right to be safe than sorry”.

Another resident, Vivian Bennett, interjected: “We don’t have whole heap [of mosquitoes] but one and two deh’ ere.”

“Dem wi sometime breed over deh so,” Bennett said, pointing to a polluted brackish pond in the middle of the cay. He said too, that mosquitoes sometimes breed in the sea shells that have collected rainfall.

Checks with several people revealed that, on average, fisherfolk will remain on the island for three to four months before visiting the mainland.

While Salmon told the Observer on Tuesday that he was not authorised to release monetary details, Dalley said yesterday that the trip “could have easily cost roughly $300,000”.

The operation of the 30-plus health officials who boarded the HSMJ Middlesex at 1:00 am on Tuesday for the five-hour journey to the Cays, took nearly six hours to complete.

“Our objectives were not entirely met… there are a couple of persons who have gone fishing, even though they were ordered to stay for the rest of the mission,” said Salmon, adding that he would recommend that the team return to the cays in the coming weeks.