Dry Spell is back!
Step Up Mosquito Treatment…By NEA
In the latest circular, NEA has urged the industry to step up mosquito treatment especially in the outdoors due to the expected dry spell in the coming months.
According to NEA, low rainfall has been recorded in the past five weeks. NEA meteorological services have forecasted dry and warm weather to continue in the second half of February. Historical data has shown that when the weather gets dry with intermittent rain, it will favour Culex mosquito breeding. Culex mosquitoes do not transmit dengue or chikungunya or Zika. However, these mosquitoes prefer to bite at night and the nuisance they create frequently results in high volume of feedback. In fact, in the past week, NEA has seen a sharp increase in feedback of night-biting mosquitoes, especially in the eastern part of Singapore where the rainfall is the lowest.
The Culex mosquitoes prefer to breed in outdoor areas, notably in drains choked with fallen leaves or ground puddles in construction sites and vacant lands.
Below are some photographs of possible breeding habitats for agencies to take note of.
To stem the potential surge in Culex mosquitoes, we strongly urge members to take the following measures over the next few weeks:
Step up drain cleaning.
Initiate or increase drain flushing where necessary.
Fill up ground depressions, especially those with water. Carry out oiling of stagnant water bodies that cannot be removed.
Thermal fogging or misting of areas with high mosquito complaints.