PHILIPSBURG–The National Mosquito Elimination Community Programme “Beat ZikV,” team which was in St. Peters last weekend, found that one in four yards visited have mosquito larvae.
The vector control team and volunteers visited some 94 premises and found 72 open for yard inspections. A homeowners’ survey was also carried out in St. Peters to determine people’s attitudes towards and knowledge of mosquitoes and their elimination measures.
The survey revealed that 93 per cent of the homeowners questioned were aware of the importance of standing water and its relation to mosquito challenges in their area.
Some 10 per cent thought that mosquitoes could breed in standing water on their property. However, almost 46 per cent considered standing water on and off someone else’s property as a major breeding site.
The Health Ministry’s Collective Prevention Services (CPS) is coordinating this campaign. The Vector Control Unit of CPS was supported by personnel from the Voluntary Corps of St. Maarten.
The Beat ZikV campaign will be heading to Ebenezer this weekend. The cooperation of all residents is needed in order to beat the Zika virus. CPS said in a press release on Thursday that the ability of mosquitoes to carry and spread disease to humans causes millions of deaths every year.
Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever are transmitted to humans by the aedes aegypti mosquito. More than half of the world’s population lives in areas where this mosquito species is present.
Sustained mosquito control efforts are important to prevent outbreaks from these diseases. There are several different types of mosquitoes and some have the ability to carry many different diseases, CPS said.
The ultimate objective of the ZikV campaign is to minimise the occurrence of mosquito borne diseases by eliminating mosquito breeding sites with a special focus on the elimination of the aedes aegypti mosquito.
Source: Daily Herald
One in 4 St. Peters yards contains mosquito larvae
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