St.maarten– The National Mosquito Elimination community program Zika Virus disease Beat ZikV was in the residential area of Betty’s Estate Saturday a week ago and of the homes visited, one in five had mosquito larvae.
The vector control team and volunteers visited more than seventy premises of which 28 were found open for yard inspections.
A home owner’s survey was also carried out in Betty’s Estate together with the yard inspection in order to determine people’s attitudes towards and knowledge of mosquitos and elimination measures.
The survey revealed that 54 per cent of the home owners questioned considered mosquito’s a problem, and 40 per cent limited their time outdoors because of mosquitoes. Only 18 per cent of those questioned thought that the mosquito problem had worsened within the last three years while 56 per cent were of the opinion that the mosquito problem had remained unchanged.
Collective Prevention Services (CPS) coordinates this campaign.
The Vector Control Unit of CPS was supported by volunteers from the Red Cross.
The Beat ZikV campaign headed last Saturday to the residential areas of Ebenezer and St. Peters.
Mosquitoes are among the deadliest animals in the world. Their ability to carry and spread disease to humans causes millions of deaths every year.
In 2015 malaria alone caused 438,000 deaths. The worldwide incidence of dengue has risen 30-fold in the past 30 years, and more countries are reporting their first outbreaks of the disease.
Mosquito larvae found at twenty percent of homes
