Health ministry issues mosquito alert

Members of the public have been put on notice to brace for an increase in mosquitoes as a result of prologued rainfall.

Dr Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie, the country's chief medical officer, said it is important that people play their part to prevent a possible increase in the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue, which is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. She sad that persons should search for and destroy all potential mosquito-breeding sites in and around their surroundings.

Some of the common breeding sites for the Aedes aegypti mosquito are drums, tyres, buckets, and animal feeding containers.

"Jamaica's, as with rest of the Caribbean, high dengue transmission period coincides with the hurricane season annually," Bisasor-McKenzie said.

She revealed that the Ministry of Health and Wellness will conduct home inspections, fogging and destruction of mosquito-breeding sites to reduce the potential for the spread of dengue.