FOGGING, which is one of the methods used by the Ministry of Health in its vector control programme, controls only 30 per cent of mosquitoes.

Entomologist at the Ministry of Health Sherine Huntley-Jones made the disclosure recently, while speaking at a youth workers’ sensitisation seminar on the Zika virus at Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston.

She said that chemical control in the form of fogging is used in emergency situations when the mosquito is most active, and insisted that it cannot be the main method used to control mosquitoes.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito is the vector that transmits the viruses that cause dengue, chikungunya and Zika. Huntley-Jones said controlling the vector is key to reducing the effect the infection would likely have on the population, especially with the Zika virus spreading in the Americas.

At last count, based on information provided by the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation, Zika virus has been identified in 14 countries in the Americas – Brazil, Colombia, Chile (Eastern Island), El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Paraguay, Suriname, and Venezuela.

Besides fogging, Huntley-Jones said community participation and and clean-up campaigns are also used in the national vector control programme.

“Seventy per cent (of the vector control programme) requires community participation,” Huntley Jones said. “It is important because the mosquito is found in our backyard — right where we live. So, if each person takes action to rid their own environment of mosquito, we are going to see 85 to 90 per cent control.”

The entomologist stressed that each householder must take responsibility for ridding their environment of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, because if they don’t, “we are not going to be able to control the vector to the level that we want it to be controlled”.

“So it is not the fogging — the fogging will assist, but the householder has to take action,” Huntley-Jones insisted. “If we do not take action, we are not going to be able to decrease the numbers sufficiently.”

THE MOSQUITO

Huntley-Jones explained that there are 68 species of mosquitoes in Jamaica. While it is important to know that different mosquitoes will bite you at different times, she said that not all mosquitoes transmit disease.

She also pointed out that there are several vector-borne diseases in the Caribbean and that among them are: dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, and Zika — all of which are transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

“So this little vector is one that we can no longer ignore, and we have to take action in dealing with it,” Huntley-Jones said, expounding on what is known about the mosquito.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito won’t be found in drains and river margins, but in and around where people live and play, in homes, near businesses, and in schools.

It is also primarily a day-feeding mosquito. However, it will feed at nights in well-lit areas and prefers to feed on humans.

“Some mosquitoes love to feed on animals and some love to feed on humans,” Huntley-Jones said. “The Aedes aegypti exclusively feeds on humans and that is why she is what we call a competent vector.”

She also said that this mosquito is a timid or sneaky feeder, so she might bite three to four people in one feeding. While feeding, if the Aedes aegypti mosquito is interrupted, for example if the person being bitten simply shifts, she will move to another individual until she gets her complete blood meal. And, if the mosquito is infected, she will pass the virus to each person she bites.

WHY FOGGING CANNOT BE THE MAIN VECTOR CONTROL METHOD

According to Huntley-Jones, the Aedes aegypti mosquito feeds inside and rests inside.

“The Ministry of Health team tells you to open your windows because the Aedes aegypti mosquito feeds inside the house and sleeps inside the house — she is mostly on the inside.

”And so, if you don’t open your windows and doors, the fog cannot get inside,“ she said.

THE SOLUTION?

Huntley-Jones said all mosquitoes need water to breed. Therefore, one must be able to identify the water sources in their environment to detect mosquito-breeding sites.

She explained that there are several breeding sites in Jamaica, but that the health ministry has found that tyres and 45-55 gallon drums are the two main mosquito-breeding sites.

“Anything in your environment that is able to hold and contain water will lend itself to the breeding of the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes,” she said.

She therefore urged Jamaicans to clean it up, cover it up and dump it up.

“Clean up your backyards, clean up your communities,” she stressed. “Cover up the drums used to collect water. Dump up old tyres.”

The entomologist said if we continue to breed these mosquitoes, then we continue to put ourselves at risk of becoming infected.