PORT ANTONIO, Portland — Grappling with an increase in numbers that indicate a problem with disease-carrying mosquitoes, health officials in this shoreline parish have given a commitment that they will get the problem under control.

“The indices have not been what we want them to be since the hurricane and the weather situation that followed. We have not met those targets that we normally would have met and surpassed,” said Portland’s Chief Environmental Health Inspector Lorenzo Hume.

He was giving his report to last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the Portland Municipal Corporation.

“Prior to the hurricane, the Aedes premises index in October was high. By the time the hurricane passed and the weather condition changed, that index rose to 35. We were able to bring it down by five percentage points but that’s not where we want it to be. It should be below 25 — we are still five per cent over,” Hume added.

His hurricane reference was to Category 5 Melissa that slammed into Jamaica’s western end on October 28, 2025.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito is responsible for the spread of dengue fever, as well as the Zika and chikungunya viruses. Hume noted that while the container index was trending down, weather conditions are conducive to an increase, so the numbers are being closely watched. He also pointed out that there is more work to be done in bringing down the Breteau index, a marker for dengue. It was right on target, 25, in October but spiked to 94 a month later.

“We have worked assiduously to bring it down but it’s still at 76, so we do have some more work to do,” said Hume.

He is asking residents to assist the health department to bring the indices numbers down by practising proper water storage, cleaning open lots beside their homes, and properly disposing of waste. These measures lessen mosquito breeding grounds and will complement other steps being taken by the health department.

“I give my commitment to you that we’ll try our best to get it down within the shortest possible time. We did a number of fogging activities and… 998 dipping activities took place at 13 establishments… Dipping is really for [the] anaphylaxis mosquito… which is a concern for malaria,” Hume pointed out.

He reminded the meeting of locally elected officials that malaria can also be introduced by human travel, and urged residents to report Haitians who land illegally in Jamaica or are illegally living in the country.

“We ask that the communities within Fair Prospect, Manchioneal, and all those areas be vigilant and look out, because we have to remind that one of the batch that came last year did present a malaria case. We are mindful of that and that the disease can spread. The mosquito, once available, can spread the disease, and we would not want a reintroduction of malaria into Jamaica through those entries,” Hume appealed.

Portland’s Chief Public Health Inspector Lorenzo Hume discussing ongoing efforts to rid the parish of disease-carrying mosquitoes at last Thursday’s meeting of the Portland Municipal Corporation. (Everard Owen)