If the recent spike in COVID infections brought on by the Delta variant isn’t problematic enough, stretching the Government’s resources and putting the Ministry of Health under tremendous strain, now comes an island-wide proliferation of mosquitoes which can bring Dengue fever, a new round of Zika and Chikungunya.

The culprit is the deadly Aedes Aegypti mosquito and the  government is stepping up its fogging programme and encouraging citizens to take personal care and remove breeding grounds.

This latest infestation of mosquitoes has been brought on by the recent heavy rains and storms including Tropical Storm Grace and Ida  which have beset Jamaica.

In July, Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton cautioned about diseases carried by these winged pests while speaking at the National Entomology Laboratory in Kingston.

“The mosquito still represents a threat to the population because it is a carrier of the dengue virus.

“I urge the population to be cautious as we go into the next number of months, and to look at the mosquito breeding sites around your homes. Destroy those sites and be careful as you monitor your environment for the Aedes mosquito and the potential threat of dengue.”

Mosquitoes are plaguing the parish of St Mary and Chairman of the St Mary Municipal Corporation, Richard Creary is looking to apply workable solutions, calling on people to take personal responsibility and not to leave the problem squarely on the shoulders of local and central government.

It is not the first time, Creary has alerted Jamaicans to the dangers posed by mosquitoes.

Back in 2014, during the Chikungunya virus outbreak, he said he found it incredulous that many people did not believe it was caused by mosquitoes and do not take measures to prevent these insects breeding.

Then Councillor for the Richmond Division, Creary asked : “ How do we get people who don’t believe it is mosquitoes to clean up? ”

Last week, seven years later he again put the issue on the table, making it clear that focusing solely on fogging was not the silver bullet to eradicate the problem.

He said: “ Everybody wants to go to party, everybody wants to be in crowds; nobody wants to wear masks. Then when the government locks down the country, it’s this, that and the other. We don’t want to take personal responsibility. I see that in the hospitals.

“When you go into the yards and into the communities, mosquitoes (breeding) in old tyres, old pan, old everything. And then they expect that resources must be found to do fogging. Fogging is not only expensive… it kills only the adult mosquitoes at that particular time.”

What is concerning is the likely proliferation of new species of mosquitoes in Jamaica carrying viruses.

In 2018, a new species of mosquito was discovered in Jamaica- the Tiger mosquito which transmits dengue, Zika and other viruses. The female is the carrier of these diseases.

Earlier this year, the Aedes Vittatus mosquito turned up in North America. This mosquito carries parasites or pathogens harmful to humans and like the Delta COVID variant, it’s only a matter of time before it arrives in Jamaica.

According to the BBC, the Aedes Vittatus mosquito is endemic to the Indian subcontinent and has never been seen in the western hemisphere until now.

This mosquito is a proven vector of Chikungunya, Zika. Dengue, Yellow Fever virus and many other diseases.

“ Being in close contact with these mosquitoes is not good news. They’re breeding in your bird bath and they’re feeding on your kids,” said Yvonne -Marie Linton, Research Director of the Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit and curator of nearly 2 million specimens in the Smithsonian Institution’s U.S. National Mosquito Collection.