Trelawny Health Department increases vigilance

MONTEGO BAY — The Trelawny Health Department says it has stepped up its monitoring systems throughout the parish, especially at the ports.

Chief Public Health Inspector, Elsa Somerville, in her report at the monthly meeting of the Trelawny Parish Council in Falmouth on June 10, said it is this increased vigilance that led to the recent capture of four stowaways in the small fishing village of Rio Bueno.

The men, who were discovered by a public health inspector, had hidden aboard a cargo ship from the Dominican Republic, which had docked at the Tankweld Port.

Ms. Somerville informed that the men were taken to the Falmouth Hospital for medical examination and then taken into custody by the police. She said that on being medically examined they were found to be healthy, but noted that the situation “could have easily been otherwise”.

The Chief Public Health Inspector reported that during the month of May, some 15 sea vessels docked in the parish, 13 of which were cruise ships and two cargo ships.  She said that approximately 54,530 persons were aboard these vessels, with 36,696 passengers and 17,834 crew members.   She said that all health protocols were observed with regard to the vessels.

She informed that as part of her department’s vector control programme, ovitraps to monitor breeding of the aedes aegepti mosquito are being placed at the sea ports.

The report for 24 such traps set during the month of May is still pending, while the analysis of the report for some 22  traps set in April, were all negativefor the aedes aegepti larvae.

Additionally, approximately 229 inspections of food establishments were carried out throughout the parish during the month of April, while 322 such inspections were done in May.

By BRYAN MILLER, JIS Reporter