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The public should remain vigilant at all times and take proper anti-mosquito measures to guard against dengue fever, a senior officer of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has warned.
Dr Ho Yuk-yin, Consultant (Community Medicine) (Risk Assessment and Communication) of the department today (October 10) announced the ovitrap index for September. The index reflects the prevalence of the mosquito vector for dengue fever.
Dr Ho said the ovitrap index last month was 15%, slightly lower than the average monthly index of 19.5% for September over the past three years.
On the district level, Dr Ho said only five districts recorded an ovitrap index of more than 20% in September compared with 12 in August.
"The lower percentage this year shows that the Government's enhanced anti-mosquito efforts in past years have paid off," he said.
Since the detection of a number of local dengue fever cases last year, government departments have been working together to control the mosquito population in Hong Kong.
Officers from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, in collaboration with staff from other departments, have adopted enhanced surveillance and control measures to prevent mosquito breeding.
"Extra staff have been deployed to carry out anti-mosquito operations in various districts, Dr Ho said.
"By strengthening its mosquito surveillance programme, the department releases area ovitrap indices on a monthly basis to update the public on the distribution and prevalence of mosquitoes throughout the territory."
Upon the advice of the World Health Organisation, Dr Ho said the department conducted a high-rise building dengue vector survey earlier this year to better understand the mosquito breeding situation in residential units. The survey was the first of its kind in Hong Kong.
To raise public awareness of the importance of curbing mosquito breeding, the department has run regular mosquito prevention and control programmes jointly with other government departments.
An anti-mosquito campaign is conducted annually with the assistance of other organisations such as area committees, schools and housing estates management to encourage active community participation.
Multilingual anti-mosquito messages, including those in Japanese, Tagalog, Indonesian, Thai, Sri Lankan, Nepali and Pakistani, have been uploaded onto the department's website.
The messages are also regularly broadcast on television and radio throughout the year, while posters, leaflets and banners remind the public to stay alert to the risk of dengue fever. Roving exhibitions and talks on dengue fever prevention are also held for students and the public.
"The fight against mosquitoes will not be successful without the full support of the public. Every member of the community must be alert and take necessary measures to eliminate the mosquito problem," Dr Ho said.
Noting that Hong Kong is highly susceptible to further outbreaks of dengue fever with its warm and humid weather, Dr Ho appealed to the public to implement the weekly mosquito inspection programme recommended by the department.
"This includes scrubbing vases and potted-plant saucers at least once a week, proper disposal of containers such as soft drink cans or lunch boxes, clearing air-conditioner drip trays regularly to ensure they are free of stagnant water and drilling holes in old tyres.
"Since the detection of a local case of dengue fever earlier this week, we have stepped up anti-mosquito operations at Kwai Chung Container Terminal, Yuen Kong Tsuen and neighbouring areas.
Details of the weekly mosquito inspection programme, ovitrap indices and other anti-mosquito information are available on the department's website www.fehd.gov.hk or on its hotline 2868 0000.
End/Friday, October 10, 2003
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