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Mt Perry mosquito survey commenced

Feb 5, 2018 | Front Page Feature, News

A mosquito survey has commenced in Mt Perry to assist with identifying species in the area.

Environmental Health Officers will be conducting the survey in conjunction with the Wide Bay Public Health Unit over the next three months, searching for a specific mosquito, Aedes aegypti, which has not yet been encountered in Mt Perry despite it being found elsewhere in the North Burnett.  Mosquito disease transmission can only occur when there is both the mosquito vector and the virus present.  Remove either one and there can be no transmission.

Cr Bowen explained that the Aedes aegypti mosquito is endemic in North Queensland and has been responsible for a number of Dengue Fever outbreaks in recent years.  The mosquito is also capable of spreading the Zika and Chickungunya virus which have not yet been detected in Australia.

Historically, surveys for this vector have required laborious house to house inspections to look for container breeding mosquitoes in their larval form.

“Council now has RSVP which stands for ‘Rapid Surveillance for Vector Presence’ which can specifically identify the Aedes aegypti mosquito eggs by using ovitraps.  The analytical technique of RSVP is so sensitive it can detect one mosquito egg in 5,000 eggs,” Cr Bowen said.

Cr Bowen said that the ovitraps traps consist of a small bucket of water fitted with a strip of paper to enable the mosquito to lay their eggs.  The traps will be deployed around Mt Perry for approximately three months with paper strips collected fortnightly for testing.  If residents encounter an ovitrap which have identifying labels, they should be left alone.

Council has a good working relationship with the Wide Bay Public Health Unit.  Cr Bowen said that it is great to see the two levels of government working together to promote public health within rural communities.

For further information regarding the Mt Perry mosquito survey, please contact Council’s Environmental Services staff on 1300 696 272 (1300 MY NBRC) or email Council.