Onset of rains also brings mosquitoes
It’s not what you’d call hard news, but for many Belizeans, the combination of oppressive heat, no breeze and swarming insects has made life miserable from Santa Elena to Barranco. Today, News 5’s Jacqueline Woods found out that while you can’t change the weather, there is something you can do about the bugs.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
Mosquitoes may be small insects, but for now they have become one big nuisance to residents across the country.
Clarine Gabourel
“Plenty mosquitoes are back here. Oh they bite you, they bite. You can’t sleep at night, they bite you. You light the fish, they come back and bite you again. They make you feel miserable.”
Karen Parks
“To me like coming on after 7:00, like a lot of mosquitoes and after 4:00 in the morning, like when I get ready to go to work. They come and spray, but once in a blue moon. I would really want them to come spray quite often, like four times a week maybe more, because a lot of kids are back here that can get infected from those mosquitoes.”
The first rains following the dry season have caused the mosquitoes to multiply. Supervisor of the Vector Control Unit, Frank Cain, says it’s an annual phenomenon.
Frank Cain, Supervisor, Vector Control Unit
“Mosquitoes lay their eggs and the minute water touches or reaches those eggs, the eggs they hatch. So that is the reason for the rash and abundance of the mosquito problem right now.”
The mosquitoes feed on blood, but the insects are not generally considered deadly. However, one type of mosquito, the Aedes Aegypti, is a carrier for dengue fever. If left untreated, this condition can become serious.
To control the mosquito population, The Vector Control Unit conducts a weekly operation. The insecticide, Malathion, is sprayed into areas where the insects are most prevalent.
Frank Cain
“The troublesome with mosquitoes are like the Port Loyola, St. Martin’s area, Faber’s Road Extension are. Even up at Belama, there are mosquitoes at times. We try and reach as much as we could in the time that’s supposed to be reached, at least once every five days we try. It is a safe insecticide, the way it is dispense, it’s something like one gallon every hour of insecticide is being dispensed.”
Jacqueline Woods
“You find that the spraying helps?”
Carmela Balam
“It helps a little bit.”
Jacqueline Woods
“So you have to lock up when you get home?”
Carmela Balam
“Yeah. From 5:00 we have to lock up. I have a lee baby weh (that’s) allergic to mosquito, when mosquito bite him he gets a rash.”
Cain says there are a number of simple things residents can do to alleviate the problem.
Frank Cain
“Like screening, keep their containers properly covered. If they have water in their yard, know a little bit of water in their yard, the fat that they use, after they are finished cooking, they can pour that in the water that is in the yard. That would help to cut down on the breeding of the mosquito.”
Jacqueline Woods
“What do you do to control it?”
Clarine Gabourel
“I use the fish (coil) and the spray. I use the fish, but it mek (make) I cough plenty. I light the fish and before I go dah (to) bed I out it and they go and I no see them again until next morning.”
Jacqueline Woods
“I notice in your backyard some water has settled here. You think that is contributing to the problem?”
Clarine Gabourel
“I think that too. You see where the water, the fly will hatch where the water deh (is). And I find like they deh (stay) round lot of bush and lot of old things. Sometimes they hatch around there plenty.”
Jacqueline Woods
“I know you’ve screened some of your windows. This helps?”
Karen Parks
“Well it help me like fifty percent, but lot of people deh (are) back here with no screen on their windows. So for prevention we’d want them to come spray.”
Frank Cain
“Since the rainy season is stepping in, we’d just like to encourage them to keep their yards clean from whatever container they have that could be holding water and is not in use. An appeal to the fellows who do tyre work, if they’re not using the tyres, let them get rid of their tyres. That’s one of best places for the mosquitoes to breed, they like the darkness of the tyres.”
Cain says on the days that they spray, the truck goes out for two hours, at least twice that day at 5:00 a.m. and at 5:00 p.m. In the meantime residents are being urged to do what they can to make their lives a little bit more comfortable. Jacqueline Woods reporting for News 5.
If you would like the spray truck to visit your area, you can visit Frank Cain at the Vector Control Unit, located at the old Belize City Hospital, or call the office at 223-1213.