MENACE OF "THE YELLOW JACK"

NZ Truth, Issue 1193, 11 October 1928, Page 9

MENACE OF "THE YELLOW JACK"

"VT Z. TRUTH" is m a position to li« state definitely that unless the Auckland City Council and other local bodies m the north exercise to the full their best efforts to stamp out the mosquito pest, New Zealand is m grave danger of "being affected "not only by dengue, but the dread "Yellow Jack" as well, with all the dire consequences such a visitation would entail. In making this assertion, "Truth" does so, not with any intention of creating public unrest or alarm, but for the. sole reason that the danger which threatens us is very real and the public has a right to know the facts. "Truth" recognizes at once that the Health Department and the local bodies m the north will, no doubt, ridicule the suggestion that there is a risk of these diseases sweeping the countryi but after the faotß have been set forth m these columns, the public, whose interests "Truth" has ever zealously guarded will be the best judge as to whether there is any potential risk of a preventable epidemic. It may be of interest to know that while the yellow^fover mosquito is not yet apparent m New Zealand, the sister of the pest is here. Food for reflection, indeed. Without fear of contradiction, it can be stated that the backyards, dumps, ill-kept gardens and kindred breedinggrounds for mosquitoes m Auckland, are, for the most part, little short of a disgrace to a civilised community. Herein lies the danger. While efforts have been made to have a general clean-up on the part of the city council, the campaign has been more or less spasmodic and has been tackled with too little regard being paid to the gravity of the problem. But m castigating the backyards of Auckland city, there is at least one borough m the Auckland area that is exempt ■ from all criticism; that is Devonport, , where, as a result of the intensive campaign against the mosquito pest, the nuisance to-day is almost non-existent. The same cannot be said for the rest of. Auckland. Far from it. The city Breeding Millions and main suburbs, especially m summer, are plagued with mosquitoes — to such an extent, m fact that, many residents m the Parnell area have to sleep under netting. This will suffice to show the prevalence of the pest, which the public seems quite content to endure- — out of ignorance fostered by the haphazard and indifferent attitude of the local bodies and health authorities to the problem. As for the Health Department, "Truth" 'learns on good, authority that it is "fully alive to the problem," but "it is not spending the money on propaganda that it should." And so, what with spasmodic and half-hearted attempts to grapple with the mosquito menace on the part of the Auckland civic heads, and the reluctance of the health authorities to spend money m any adequate sum, the public Is left to combat the pest as best it can. But the time has arrived for the civic heads and- health panjandrums to get busy. They must tell the people the risks they run from the biting mosquito. This insect of deadly import breeds prdliflcally m stagnant water, cesspits, "dumps, choked-up water spouts, old tins and similar receptacles. The backyards are one of ■ the most prolific sources of the mosquito and m these breeding grounds the deadly type which spreads disease may yet develop. The danger is no myth. It is very real and one which should be guarded against by every available method. To say that. the mosquito is always with us, and that no epidemic of yellow fever or' malaria has visited these shores as a result of his biting, Is not to say that this immunity must be taken, as a matter of course. If careless neglect and haphazard Indifference are to be the order of the day, then no man— medical or otherwise — can say with certainty that hundreds of healthy people may not be swept away this summer, should the dread disease-carriers come to these shores, as they are quite likely to do. It Is a well-known fact that there are many people resident m the Dominion who have suffered at some time from malarial fever m the tropics. Then there is always the possibility of people entering this country from tropical countries with malarial fever m their blood. Here, then, is the feeding-ground

Deadly Mosquito That May Devastate Dominion Unless Health Authorities Act Without Delay

PEST MUST BE FOUGHT

iiiinttcititiitiiiitiiiiiiiiitiiiiiitiniiiMciifiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMtiiiiitiiiitictiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiitiiiiiiirTiiitii niMiitiilTiiiirittictitl tun uti tliiiiiririMii llimiii mil nil [inn rntllKl Itimnl filiuitlllltnlinrtlltlllllllint^. I (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Auckland Representative.) || | ■ ' S £ I Only a tiny mosquito that bites and wings its way to its next if I | irritated victim. Quite harmless, of course, and nothing more than a §§ i| pestiferous insect to be suffered and borne with as good a grace as || || possible. Perhaps — and perhaps not; it all depends on the mosquito. § j |i If it is of the harmless breed, well and good, but what if it should || || be the dread carrier of dengue feoer, or, Worse still, that terrible f f II disease which lays thousands /on? when unchecked — "The Yellow || || Jack?" Once the "Yellow Jack" mosquito arrives m the Dominion, if |f perhaps the local bodies m the north and those, immediately . respons- || if ible for the. health of the community will awake to the full sense of || IS their bilttles and DO SOMETHING. U

responsu

i ! ii HhiitimiiimtimiiiiiimimiiiimimiiiimiiimiMiiiiiiimiiiniiiiiiiiiimiiifiiiiiiiiii iiiiiniii iiiimiiiii mniMniiiMiiiiniiiiiimiiiuiiiniiinniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii niimii miniuo = 'jiimiiiiiiiinniniiniiiiiiiiinintiiiiiiimtintiiiniiiiiiiiiiininiiiiiiniiiiiiniitiiiiiiiiiniiiniiiiii iiiiiiiniiiiimiiiimiiimiiitimimniiiiiitiinniiniiiimniiniiiiimuimiinniiiiiiijiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii?

for the malarial mosquito. How is he to get here when New Zealand is not his natural environment?

This question is important and not lightly to be dismissed. One way m which the malarial mosquito may be introduced into this country is by sea — either as a "cabin passenger," a stowaway m the ship's hold or dormant among fruit and other suitable conveyances.

What happenn when this vessel from tropical ports reaches these shores and the fugitive malarial mosquito happens to get loose among the cesspits and insanitary backyards?

LOOK OUT for may give y>

It bites someone, other mosquitoes bite the same person and then bite other people. Soon a horde of mosquitoes are on the wing. They bite the malarially infected and proceed to infect others. , Before anybody knows what has happened, there is a general epidemic.

Or it may be that the mosquito from tropical lands carries dengue' fever, which acts similarly and starts .an epidemic. The world saw quite recently m Athens the effect of a dengue epidemic, when more ' than half the population of that city was prostrated — to the detriment of business and all public services. Both these diseases are bad enough, but what would be the posi= tion if yellow fever were Introduced by means of a fugitive mosquito? The appalling con sc q uences of such a calamity as

a yellow-fever out-

■ this fellow— he break can hardly be ou denguel overestimated, yet this ia but one of the risks which an apathetic tolerance of the mosquito pest invites.

"Truth" is painting no lurid pio-

ture of remote possibilities.

The views expressed here are supported by an authority on the subject

who has devoted the whole of his time for years past to mosquito research. It can be said at once that he is not alone m" having no delusions as to what could — and might — happen. Public attention was directed to the danger of the mosquito pest m Auckland by David H. Graham, who is working m conjunction just* now with such eminent men m the city as Dr. Hughes, Dr. Armitage, Professor Thomas and a. Archey. For the past eighteen months or so, Graham has been educating the public to the advantages of a mosquito-free country. He has been instrumental m cleaning up hundreds of backyards and other breeding grounds m and around Auckland; He found remarkable co-operation m Devonport — and no mosquitoes as a result of the efforts of the Devonport Borough Council. He also co-operated last, summer with the City Council's sanitary inspectors. Hundreds of homes were visited, dumps were cleared up and advice given to householders. An interesting paper on research and preventive propaganda was delivered to the Auckland Institute recently. Graham, who knows as much about the subject as any man m New Zealand, does not make light of the dan-! ger. "Borough councils must clean up their dumps," he told the Institute members, "but it is necessary for all people to co-operate m the campaign." He also made It known that "eight out of ten backyards m the city are breeding-places for mosquitoes." "If everybody cleaned up their yards, removing all possible breed-ing-places," he said, "the pest will be reduced by 80 to 90 per cent." When it is stated as a definite fact that .250 mosquitoes can come from a two-ounce tin, and that a petrol tin holding a gallon of water would breed 6000 adults m three weeks, it causes speculation as to what the local bodies are ' thinking about, to allow such a state of affairs to exist. ' - Educating Public "Truth" approached Graham and asked for further information; he did not smile satirically when asked whether the risk of the introduction of the dengue and yellow-fever carrier into the Dominion was an actual possibility. Not only was it a risk the country was facing, but the introduction of yellow fever by mosquitoes could not be dismissed as an impossibility. Graham made it quite clear that he was not indulging m scare-mongering or anything of that kind. He was simply answering "Truth's" question — and his reply was such that nobody with any thinking apparatus at all could imagine for a moment that the mosquito pest is something of no account. "The yellow-fever mosquito is not m New Zealand at present, but the sister of it is here," said Graham. The risk of dengue is more actual than is that of yellow fever. The dengue specimen is here and the fever is well known as near as Raratonga — quite near enough, m all conscience, to make the civic authorities and the health department aware of the danger. All "Truth" has to say by way of comment is that if the knowledge of the subject within the grasp of the health department and local bodies generally, is not sufficient justification for intensive propaganda to educate the public, then those whose function it Is to look after the publio interest m various departments of activity are failing m their duty so long as they remain officially silent. It is not only that the Auckland and northern districts would be affected first — by reason of their geographical position — but once get any of these dread, diseases into the country and the whole Dominion would be affected. The health of the community is too valuable to jeopardise by haphazard methods and casual indifference to all possible dangers which can undermine it. The health ' department, of course, knows all about mosquitoes— or should do — and it naturally follows that the department knows the dangers. This being so, there must be a nation-wide appeal this summer, backed up by propaganda, that will not only reduce the mosquito pest to a minimum, but remove the risk of disease •that now hovers over the land.