Vector Control Activities to Be Ramped Up in St. James

The St. James Public Health Department has ramped up vector-control activities in the parish, following a spike in the Aedes aegypti Index since June.

Speaking at the Disaster Preparedness, Hazard Mitigation and Safety Committee meeting of the St. James Municipal Corporation, on Thursday (July 18), Deputy Chief Public Health Inspector for St. James, Nadia Burgess, said increased rainfall has heightened the Aedes Index from 11 per cent to 12 per cent at the end of June 2024.

The Aedes aegypti index means the ratio, expressed as a percentage, between the number of houses in a limited well-defined area on the premises of which actual breeding places of Aedes aegypti are found, and the total number of houses examined in that area.

Ms. Burgess shared that the team will increase fogging activities due to the rise in complaints of mosquitoes throughout the parish.

“We have bumped up our activities and we will now be fogging seven days per week in the mornings and evenings,” she said.

“We were doing two mornings per week, but now we will be doing seven mornings per week, seven evenings per week for fogging. We will also be engaging five private pest controllers to assist us with our efforts as well,” she added.

The increased fogging activities will target both the larval and the adult life stage of mosquitoes in the area.

“We will continue to use our task workers to engage in larvicidal activities. In the evenings, we will use our private pest controllers to supplement our adulticidal activities that we have scheduled,” Ms. Burgess said.

Communities without electricity, due to the passage of hurricane Beryl, will be given priority, in order to ensure the safety and well-being of residents.