<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>NEA steps up malaria fight
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Biological, chemical methods to wipe out mosquitoes </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Maria Almenoar
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In addition to chemical fogging, NEA officers are also spraying clouds of bacteria which will kill mosquito larvae in the forested areas of Sungei Kadut. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE search-and-destroy mission against mosquitoes in malaria-hit Sungei Kadut and Jurong Island is in full swing.
To stop the illness from spreading beyond the 15 cases so far, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has deployed 50 officers to look for and destroy breeding sites in the forested areas of Sungei Kadut in the north and Jurong Island in the south-west.
The breeding spots in Sungei Kadut are sprayed with bacteria in the morning to kill mosquito larvae.
To target adult mosquitoes, chemical fogging is done there at night. This stepped-up enforcement is likely to continue for three weeks or until no more cases are reported.
So far, NEA has identified three types of Anopheles mosquitoes in these areas.
The mystery, however, lies in the fact that two of the three types are not associated with spreading malaria, while the remaining type has been linked to the spread of malaria in China and Korea, but not here.
The Health Ministry said it is still investigating how the disease has surfaced here - especially since the 15 people infected in the past five weeks had not travelled recently, so they could not have brought the disease in from abroad.
The latest case was reported on Monday.
Of the 15 patients, 14 were foreign workers, and one, a full-time national serviceman. All have since been discharged from hospital.
The more than 20 foreign worker dormitories in the Sungei Kadut/Mandai area have been directed by NEA to carry out residual spraying on both the inside and the outside surfaces of the buildings. Dormitory operators have also given mosquito netting and insect repellent for distribution to foreign workers.
Malaria is distinguished from the other two mosquito-borne diseases chikungunya and dengue in that it is transmitted by the Anopheles mosquito; the other two diseases are caused by the Aedes mosquito.
The Anopheles mosquito is active at night and found in forest areas or brackish water, while the Aedes mosquito tends to be active in the day and is found near where humans live.
[email protected] Additional reporting by Jalelah Abu Baker
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Biological, chemical methods to wipe out mosquitoes </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Maria Almenoar
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
In addition to chemical fogging, NEA officers are also spraying clouds of bacteria which will kill mosquito larvae in the forested areas of Sungei Kadut. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE search-and-destroy mission against mosquitoes in malaria-hit Sungei Kadut and Jurong Island is in full swing.
To stop the illness from spreading beyond the 15 cases so far, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has deployed 50 officers to look for and destroy breeding sites in the forested areas of Sungei Kadut in the north and Jurong Island in the south-west.
The breeding spots in Sungei Kadut are sprayed with bacteria in the morning to kill mosquito larvae.
To target adult mosquitoes, chemical fogging is done there at night. This stepped-up enforcement is likely to continue for three weeks or until no more cases are reported.
So far, NEA has identified three types of Anopheles mosquitoes in these areas.
The mystery, however, lies in the fact that two of the three types are not associated with spreading malaria, while the remaining type has been linked to the spread of malaria in China and Korea, but not here.
The Health Ministry said it is still investigating how the disease has surfaced here - especially since the 15 people infected in the past five weeks had not travelled recently, so they could not have brought the disease in from abroad.
The latest case was reported on Monday.
Of the 15 patients, 14 were foreign workers, and one, a full-time national serviceman. All have since been discharged from hospital.
The more than 20 foreign worker dormitories in the Sungei Kadut/Mandai area have been directed by NEA to carry out residual spraying on both the inside and the outside surfaces of the buildings. Dormitory operators have also given mosquito netting and insect repellent for distribution to foreign workers.
Malaria is distinguished from the other two mosquito-borne diseases chikungunya and dengue in that it is transmitted by the Anopheles mosquito; the other two diseases are caused by the Aedes mosquito.
The Anopheles mosquito is active at night and found in forest areas or brackish water, while the Aedes mosquito tends to be active in the day and is found near where humans live.
[email protected] Additional reporting by Jalelah Abu Baker
