Barbados
Barbados Underground, the blog, has exposed a problem with the sluice gates at Worthing Beach resulting in an infestation of the Malaria mosquito at the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary.
Stuart Heaslet, Sanctuary representative, lamented to The Bajan that since the gates went into disrepair three years ago, it has been impossible to flood the Sanctuary when water levels there are low, thereby enabling the breeding of the Anopheles mosquito in the wetland shallows and the drainage canals.
As is the case in the Cayman Islands, the Sanctuary used to be able to flood and flush the Graeme Hall Ramsar wetland, making that environment hostile to the Anopheles mosquito, which thrives in slow moving and lightly agitated water bodies.
“Years ago,” Heaslet told The Bajan, “we were able to control mosquitoes naturally. When the sluice gate worked, we were able to raise the water levels and get water flowing through the canals. Flowing water in the canals meant fewer mosquitoes not only for the Sanctuary but for the surrounding neighbourhoods.”
Now that the gates are non-functional, the Sanctuary has had to resort to chemical treatment of the wetland to curb mosquito production. In light of the re-emergence of Malaria in the Caribbean, Barbados’ status as a major travel hub for the region and internationally, and the growing resistance of the Malaria parasite to anti-malarials worldwide, this is cause for grave concern. (Source: bajan.wordpress.com)
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Aug, 21, 09 at 3:17 pm
The Woodshed Coalition is pleased that the issue of Malaria is being discussed in a serious way here.
The source blog post by Bajan Underground and the reproduction of that story at the WEC were designed to raise awareness of the potential for the re-introduction of Malaria into a country like Barbados where the mosquito does exist.
As one commenter noted, the Anopheles mosquito needs the virus to spread the disease. Our point is exactly that. What if someone lands in Barbados with the virus and is exposed to the mosquito?
This is not at all inconceivable, is it? Look at what happened to Jamaica starting in 2006?