Late rains mean summer bonanza for mosquitoes
NICOSIA RESIDENTS complaining of a sudden increase in mosquitoes have been advised to get rid of any sources of stagnant water in their homes if they wanted to help limit their chances of getting bitten.
Public health services acting head George Giorgallas said that although the summer months always saw a rise in mosquitoes, the recent bursts of rain in the capital had resulted in an increase of stagnant water sources, which have exacerbated the problem.
“The [high] temperature in the water during the summer months allows mosquitoes more easily breed and multiply,” he said. “After the recent rains a lot of water gathered and is now lying stagnant in different spots attracting the mosquitoes to it.”
Giorgallas said empty containers lying around in people’s gardens or dumped in empty fields were a particular hotspot for the insects because they filled with water when it rained.
The health inspector said there was a national mosquito-spraying programme in place, which the public health services were responsible for outside town limits and the municipal health services implemented within their boundaries.
This involved special teams of sanitary labourers from both services using environmentally friendly insecticide to spray stagnant water spots, he said.
A spraying programme was also carried out with the United Nations in the buffer zone.
“The UN prepares the programme and its carried out by the health ministry’s sanitary labourers.”
But Giorgallas told the Cyprus Mail there were a number of measures the public could take to help limit the problem and protect themselves as well.
He said: “They shouldn’t leave things like empty vases, bottles, old water hoses or watering cans lying around exposed. Instead they should either be turned over so that they don’t collect water, or destroyed [if they’re no longer used].
“The caps on home sewage systems should also be well fitted so that there is no multiplication of mosquitoes at the source, and unused water deposits that are destroyed, oxidised or have holes in them should be thrown out, not left on the roof to attract and lead to the multiplication of mosquitoes.”
Another favourite breeding ground for the bothersome insects were the ponds and water fountains people kept in their gardens, he said.
“If these ponds have fish in them then it’s okay because they eat the mosquitoes, but it’s the ponds and fountains that just recycle the same water that are a problem because they attract the mosquitoes which are then able to multiply.
“If people want to keep the ponds and waterfalls they should buy a few fish and put them in so that they eat the mosquitoes,” Giorgallas said.
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