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Saturday September 29, 4:47 PMSpecial team to look out for mosquito breeding sites at Bukit BatokSINGAPORE : A special team has been set up to look out for unconventional breeding sites at the Bukit Batok dengue cluster, Singapore's worst hit area.The team will join a group of officers that is carrying out the fourth round of search and destroy operations at Bukit Batok St 31, 32 and 34. They will leave no drain unchecked and no stone unturned until the cluster closes. Mayor for South West CDC, Dr Amy Khor, joined these officers who belong to a team of 40 NEA officers involved in the latest round of operations. This fourth round sees the officers spending 4,480 manhours on the job, a 367 percent increase in manhours over the third round of checks, which involved 40 officers working 320 manhours over three days. Since it started two weeks ago, they have found three homes which have mosquito breeding sites. Two breeding sites were also found in common property areas such as in the drains. Dr Khor, who is also the MP for Hong Kah GRC, says that reining in the Bukit Batok dengue cluster proves a challenge for two reasons. Being relatively dengue-free in the past, residents there have low immunity against the virus. There is also a higher population of the Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes which are known to be more efficient transmitters of dengue as compared to the Aedes Albopictus. The ratio is about 60 to 40 so the key to reducing the number of mosquitoes is to deny them their breeding sites. Dr Khor says: "Every resident I meet actually tell me that they are aware of the problem, they are aware that they need to check for breeding in their homes. They say they do this everyday diligently and yet each round of inspection, we found some new breeding sites which were not found earlier. "Therefore we think that it could also be that some residents may simply not realise that this particular area can have breeding. They may not fully appreciate how potent and resilient the mosquitoes are in terms of just a small amount of water that's needed, so we think that would help educate them to look for places which they might previously have not thought of or overlook." Recent checks have shown that mosquito larvae were found in unusual sites such as dish rack trays, toilet bowls and toilet cisterns although the top indoor breeding sites within the homes are pails and ornamental containers. The NEA has assembled a special team of 6 officers, who have an eye for detail and a track record of spotting unusual breeding grounds. For example, one of those officers had found a breeding spot on top of a petrol kiosk sign which was located at a height of three-storeys high. The sign had a slight depression at the top and was collecting water. The team will be going round the Bukit Batok cluster to look for such breeding sites. The NEA and grassroots organisations have also intensified their public education efforts in this cluster. So besides putting up banners in the common areas as well as posters outside the lifts, posters are also placed in the lifts, showing unusual breeding sites, so that residents will have no excuse to say that they are not aware of the dengue situation here. Posters showing which blocks have dengue cases are also pasted in all the lifts in the area and road shows conducted in front of the lift lobbies. Daily house-to-house checks are also done. South West CDC has also launched an outreach programme to 235 General Practitioners (GPs) in the district. It will focus on informing residents of symptoms of dengue fever, so that they can recognise them and seek treatment early. Posters and flyers will be sent to all the GPs and private clinics, requesting them to display the educational materials promptly. Although dengue transmission has gone down in other parts of Singapore, the number of cases in the Bukit Batok hotspot remains high. As of Friday September 28, there were 112 cases. - CNA/ch |
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