Amid concerns over dengue fever, forty cases of which Saint Lucia has recorded this year, the Ministry of Health’s Environmental Division has stepped up its mosquito control measures.
Environmental Health Officer Glenda Etienne-Cepal disclosed that the measures include house-to-house inspections to identify and eliminate breeding grounds in various communities.
In addition, Etienne-Cepal announced the identification and treatment of abandoned or open water sources, ongoing vector education with targeted groups, and providing information about vector breeding habitats and behaviors and tips for controlling vectors in and around the home.
Assessing and fogging learning institutions before the reopening of schools, extensive assessments and targeted fogging operations have also occurred to eliminate mosquito breeding sites and reduce the mosquito population.
“These measures are designed to create a safer environment for students and staff as they return to the educational institutions,” the Environmental Health Officer stated.
Another initiative involves removing community items with the potential to hold water and harbour mosquitoes and rats.
While these public health measures are crucial, Etienne-Cepal cautioned that the fight against mosquitos and dengue fever requires collective effort.
“We urge your community to take personal responsibility in controlling mosquito breeding sites around the immediate environment,” she said.
“Your efforts should be targeted in your home. Fogging on its own will only take care of the adult mosquitos, leaving the larvae to continue their development into new generations of mosquitos days after fogging,” the Health Ministry official advised.
She urged regular checks and removal of standing water from containers such as flower pots and buckets, ensuring that gutters and drains are clear of debris to prevent water accumulation, using mosquito repellents, and installing screens on windows and doors.
In addition, Etienne-Cepal called on citizens to keep their yards and gardens well maintained by cutting back overgrown vegetation and removing any items that can collect water.
“The Environmental Health Division is committed to protecting the community from dengue fever and other mosquito borne diseases through these targeted interventions. By working together and taking these preventative measures, we can significantly reduce the risk and impact of dengue fever,” she asserted.
PHOTO: Unsplash.com Stock image
Well there was no fogging in the Forestiere area and the School.
PLEASE COME TO AUGIER, A INDIAN MAN HAS A CHICKEN FARM THERE. MOSQUITES EVERY WHERE.
When I am site touring,I make sure the area is ‘indicate or identifiant ‘
Augier is a big nice and safe community, there are many chicken farms, there is one going up to catine, where the propriétaire house is close air conditionné,and there are people living in the nose of the smell, the health control is never ever doing their duty..
Such as a pig pen at the end of the St Jude hospital where construction is on the way, the pigs 💩💩waste is overflowing in the yards of the neighbors for about many decades complaing has been going on to the health district or health control, but there is no solution,finally the late health control Gerald told one of the complainents to go and eat the pigs 💩💩💩 waste imagine this.. vieux fort…