Mozzie alert for harbour residents

By WAYNE THOMPSON

Residents of Auckland's waterfront apartments are being put on mosquito alert because of the threat of harmful exotic species escaping from the wharves.

Letters and leaflets have been sent to 2000 Downtown property owners from the Auckland District Health Board asking for their help to stop unwanted mosquitoes gaining a foothold.

In a Singapore-style campaign, they are being asked to get rid of stagnant water, which the insects need in order to breed, in plant containers on balconies and even pet bowls.

They are also urged to dob in neighbours whose housekeeping allows water to collect on surfaces such as canopies or in rubbish jars and bottles.

Auckland Regional Health Protection Service officer John Whitmore said the mailout was an experiment in trying to impress residents that Auckland's port was the highest risk area for introduction of disease-carrying exotic mosquitoes.

They were sometimes found in cargo on ships from overseas and could spread serious human diseases such as malaria and dengue fever.

In Singapore, a crackdown against the aedes mosquito, which can spread the sometimes fatal dengue fever, includes $100 fines for householders and use of about 700 volunteers in apartment blocks to educate neighbours on how to spot and clean up problem areas.

Mr Whitmore said an education programme was chosen for Auckland instead of a dictatorial or regulatory approach, though the Health Act allowed for property inspection if a statutory nuisance arose.

The Auckland City Council rates data base was used for the mailout but he expected some "leg work" would follow to keep up with the frenzy of apartment building on the waterfront.

The city council is helping the mosquito alert, monitoring 11 "ovitraps" on the waterfront fringe so mosquitoes cannot breed.

The service and the Ports of Auckland also have traps on the wharves.

Mr Whitmore said eight or nine exotic mosquitoes had been found in ships and cargo at the port last year.

A Health Ministry spokesman said the mosquito alert was a local campaign and had not been ordered by the ministry as a result of any case of disease.

The last interception of an exotic mosquito of public health significance at Auckland port was in November.

This was one of more than 20 such interceptions in five years.

Ports of Auckland corporate affairs manager Bronwen Jones said the company employed a "mosquito inspector" to make regular checks, including potential breeding areas in pools of water around the port.

Mosquito alert

* Southern saltmarsh mosquito: potential carrier of Ross River virus, which can cause dizziness, headaches, aching limbs, severe depression or arthritis.

* Yellow fever mosquito: can infect humans with yellow fever, which causes nausea, vomiting, fever, headache and muscle pain.

* Asian tiger mosquito: potential carrier of dengue fever.