Trelawny Public Health Dept. Stepping up Vector Control Programme

The Trelawny Public Health Department, through its vector control programme, carried out one fogging and 10 oiling operations throughout the parish during the month of March. Additionally, some 79 mosquito breeding sites were identified and treated.
This was revealed by Deputy Chief Public Health Inspector, Mr. Delroy Mowatt, in a report tabled at the monthly meeting of the Trelawny Parish Council, held on April 8, in Falmouth.
Mr. Mowatt also pointed out that during the month, 10 persons who had visited malarious countries, were investigated, but no case of fever was found.
The Inspector reported that there was an increase in nuisance type mosquitoes in the parish, as a result of the storage of water in the homes, because of the drought.
He noted that private residences in several communities were visited and inspected during the month of March, and were found to be breeding grounds for these mosquitoes.
“When we inspected communities, namely Refuge, Carey Park, Bounty Hall and Daniel Town with vector control workers, what we found was that the number of homes found with mosquito breeding was higher than the previous month,” he said.
He pointed out that drums used for water storage were found to be breeding grounds for the mosquitoes.
The Public Health Inspector advised that persons who have to store water in containers need to adopt mosquito breeding preventive measures. Such measures, he said, include covering storage containers; oiling and other biological methods, such as adding small fish to the containers.