WITH the threat of Zika infestation hanging over Guyana, the Vector Control Unit of the Ministry of Public Health has stepped up its fogging exercises countrywide.Dr Horace Cox, Head of the Vector Control Unit, said during an interview on Jumpstart FM that while there is yet no cause for concern or alarm, the Ministry would nevertheless be stepping up its fogging exercise.

“Communities outside of Georgetown are now being targeted, and residents are being encouraged to support the efforts by ensuring that their windows are open during the fogging exercise, to allow the mist into their homes to kill the mosquitoes,” Dr Cox explained.

The Ministry will also begin a house-to-house verification and information exercise, a component of which would seek to offer information to persons about the mosquito-borne virus. Communities along the East and West coasts and banks of the Demerara river will begin to see an increased presence of officers carrying out the fogging exercise.

But in spite of the efforts of the Public Health Ministry, citizens are being encouraged to do their part by ensuring they eliminate breathing grounds for mosquitoes.
Citizens across the country should play their part by ensuring their communities are clean, Dr Cox explained. He said empty plots of land should be weeded to chase away the mosquitoes, and containers of water in yards should be disposed of.

Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman disclosed that his Ministry intends to assist the Ministry of Public Health in ensuring that mining communities are made aware of the Zika threat, and will assist with the fogging exercises in interior communities.

The Ministry of Public Health declared in a statement that fogging commenced on February 1, 2016 in identified communities.
“These fogging exercises will kill the adult mosquitoes which carry mosquito-borne diseases”, the statement said. To ensure that the fogging exercise is most effective, residents in targeted communities are reminded to open their windows to allow the fog into buildings to kill the adult mosquitoes.

To avoid any health problems, residents are reminded to cover all drinking water and secure all foodstuff (uncooked and cooked) to prevent possible contamination; secure all domestic animals and poultry, and keep persons who suffer from asthmatic conditions, young children and the elderly away from the direct flow of fog.
The fogging exercise will be completed on February 29, 2016.

Guyana has recorded just one confirmed case of the Zika virus. The World Health Organization has declared an international emergency as more cases of the virus continue to appear across the world. Several cases have been recorded in Brazil, Suriname and Venezuela, as well as in some Caribbean nations.