Andhra Pradesh climate best for mosquito breeding
Frequent rains may wash off larvae but rise in humidity favours them.
Visakhapatnam: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s promise to make Andhra Pradesh “100 per cent mosquito-free” in the next two years, seems impossible.
Experts and entomologists say that AP’s climate with high temperature and rainfall is suited for mosquito breeding and the vector mosquitoes grow in small amount of stagnant water. They have developed resistance to most of the chemicals being used against them.
Bill Gates had deemed mosquitoes deadly because despite its small size, these insects can kill by transmitting disease, in just one bite. There are some places in the world that researchers have found to be mosquito free due to cold and harsh climate. It is almost impossible to eliminate mosquitoes in AP as the insect has been getting stronger and mosquito resistance to insecticide has become a major concern.
The climate of AP can be termed as tropical (warm, rainy and humid) with slight variations. Mosquitoes are insects that love tropical climate having access to water, which is the biggest reason so many varieties of mosquitoes - Aedes, Anopheles, Culex, Asian Tiger, Yellow Fever plus other types - are found in various parts of the state. It is very difficult to eradicate them as scientists are yet to develop any chemical or bacteria that work comprehensively. The only way to control mosquito-borne diseases is to control the mosquito population by keeping the surroundings and water bodies clean, noted entomologist D. Narahari said.
Every year thousands of cases of malaria, dengue and chikungunya are reported in AP as mosquitoes which breed during rains continue to reproduce and add to their numbers till winter. The melathion or pyrethrum chemicals used for fogging doesn’t have any permanent effect on controlling the menace of mosquitoes. If the government adopts scientific methods to fight these insects, we will manage to control the breeding. But we cannot eradicate them, said another entomologist N. Prasad.
The population of tadpoles and Gambusia fish, which eats larvae of mosquito and prevents further breeding in water bodies has drastically comedown resulting in mosquitoes breeding very rapidly causing the spread of diseases. Scientists hope to find ways of using bacteria to kill mosquitoes.
Though Chief Minister Naidu has claimed that the government can adopt Sri Lanka’s method to be mosquito-free, it is not possible in AP, given vast area with humid weather, professor in Zoology at Andhra University D.E. Babu said.