Slight increase in mosquito breeding in Hanover
Published:Monday | April 21, 2025 | 12:06 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer - -
WESTERN BUREAU:
The Hanover Health Department (HHD) is calling for residents within the parish to be on the lookout for mosquito breeding sites within their respective areas, and help to destroy them.
Such a move will help the HHD in its vector-control fight, especially against the A edes aegypti mosquito, which is the vector that contributes to mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue fever and malaria.
Acting chief public health inspector in the HHD, Rowan Stephens, while tabling a report at the April monthly meeting of the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC), stated that the Aedes aegypti mosquito index for the parish is now relatively low, but is still slightly above World Health Organization (WHO) standards.
“At the end of the month (March) it was at 5.9 per cent, and the standard of WHO for Jamaica is to have it below 5.0 per cent, and we hope to continue to ensure that we keep it within range, so that we do not have any issues as it relates to the spread of mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and others in this parish,” he stated.
Checks on the HHD reports tabled for the months of February and March 2025 with regard to the monitoring of the prevalence of mosquito breeding in the parish are showing a slight increase in the premises positive index for February over March, with the HHD research showing a 4.25-per-cent positive index as at the end of February, up to 5.94 per cent as at the end of March.
The report for February is showing that 28,086 premises were inspected, with 1,195 proving positive for Aedes aegypti presence, while in March some 23,309 premises were inspected with 1,378 of them showing a positive reading for the presence of the vector.
In February, the highest positive index readings were recorded in the areas of March Town and Maryland, with the lowest in the general Orange Bay area. In March the areas of Cacoon and Cash Hill showed the highest readings, while March Town and Green Island showed the lowest readings.
According to the HHD report, the health personnel continue their larvicidal and adulticidal activities across the parish, visiting some 135 institutions and 39 communities, while sensitising residents about the benefits of proper monitoring and control of the vector.