If you help breed mosquitoes you could be in trouble
OCHO RIOS, St Ann — The St Ann Health Department has served notice that prosecution is a possibility for residents who keep removing covers that health workers place over water containers to curb the breeding of mosquitoes. For now, health officials continue to educate the population.
There have been no confirmed cases of dengue in the parish since the start of the year, and they are hoping to keep it that way.
With the heat of summer providing ideal conditions for mosquito eggs to mature, health officials are urging residents to make every effort to rid their surroundings of breeding sites used by the insects. It is an often repeated request.
“We are likely to have increased mosquito breeding because most of the eggs that were laid by mosquitoes may not have matured in the cold conditions,” chief public health inspector for the parish Leroy Scott said Thursday during the monthly sitting of the St Ann Municipal Corporation.
Health officials have been covering water containers in an effort to prevent mosquitoes from breeding but, according to Scott, in most cases residents later remove the lids.
“We have to try and educate persons so they can know the importance of keeping these containers closed, otherwise if they continue they will have to be prosecuted,” he said.
The parish’s medical officer of health, Dr Tamara Henry said fogging is done but stressed that this does not prevent breeding.
“I know the health department does fogging but it only gets rid of mosquitoes that are mature; we still have the ones that are gonna turn adults. I want to ask persons to search and destroy mosquito-breeding sites on their properties,” she urged.
“The health team will be out there fogging too, but they can’t be everywhere so we ask that you take your health seriously,” Henry added.
Mosquito-breeding sites can be destroyed by covering containers in which water is able to settle, keeping them dry, cleaning them regularly, filling them with soil or putting holes in them. If individuals use mesh to cover containers, the holes of the mesh should be small enough to prevent mosquitoes from entering.
