Manchester Health Department adds more workers to tackle mosquito threat

By Kimone Witter    

 

The Manchester Health Department has employed additional workers to respond to the increase in the mosquito population in the parish.

 

Up to 45 people will be brought on, in addition to the 100 temporary vector control workers, 18 permanent staff and public health inspectors.

 

In an interview with Radio Jamaica News on Wednesday, Chief Public Health Inspector for Manchester, Charmaine Palmer Cross, said private pest control entities have been engaged to operate recently acquired fogging machines.

 

The health department has increased its teams from four to seven to tackle the mosquito issue. 

 

"And we're still looking to increase it by even another one, especially now that we have gotten additional machines. So we want to start that this afternoon, where we are now spreading in other areas outside of Alligator Pond. We have already started that because on the weekend we did some areas around Mandeville, the DeCarteret area, some areas close to New Green," she disclosed. 

 

Mrs. Palmer Cross said Alligator Pond, Porus and northern communities including Christiana and Coleyville are the areas more likely to be impacted by mosquitoes due to the need to store water for domestic use.

 

But she said fogging is the least effective method to kill mosquito larvae and urged homeowners to reduce breeding sites.

 

Mrs. Palmer Cross also appealed to residents of Manchester to be patient as her teams work to get to their communities.

 

Meanwhile, with schools on summer holidays, parent and guardians are being advised to monitor their children to protect them from coming in contact with contaminated water.

 

 

In the meantime, the Manchester Health Department has warned residents to be on the lookout for canned goods and other products that may have expired.

 

The chief public health inspector for the parish also raised concerned that spoiled meat could be sold to unsuspecting customers. 

 

"There is always a concern in relation to food and proper storage. However, what is important is that a lot of these facilities, especially in the town areas, they have gotten back electricity pretty early, and that reduces the risk in terms of spoilage and so forth. But nevertheless, the public health inspectors are still out there and they are still monitoring to ensure that whatever they are passing on to the public is safe," Mrs. Palmer Cross said.     

 

Chief Public Health Inspector for the Manchester, Charmaine Palmer Cross.