Press Release of the Region of Central Macedonia for the Mosquito Control Project, 27/06/2016
Decline up to 80% of mosquito population in the Region of Central Macedonia within one week
By the Directorate-General of Public Health and Social Care of the Region of Central Macedonia it is announced that the actions within the mosquito control programme are under full development throughout Central Macedonia and the whole project is well progressing, resulting in the reduction of mosquito population, as can be seen from the monitoring of the trap network for capturing adult mosquitoes which is used for the documentation of the results of control project and is located throughout the entire Region of Central Macedonia.
The increase of nuisance that was observed at the first ten days of June was inevitable and expected due to the heavy rainfall which preceded and exceeded 50 mm in many areas. The problem has been addressed by intensifying the works and lasted for only one week.
Today the problems have been eliminated in some areas of West Thessaloniki where there also the improvement is particularly considerable. Indicatively it is mentioned that from the data of the monitoring network it appears that since the previous week the number of captured mosquitoes in the traps has been decreased by 80% in relation to the beginning of June while at the Metropolitan area of Thessaloniki and at the seaside zone of the Region the problems are being addressed successfully and the nuisance is being eliminated to acceptable levels.
Aiming at the protection of public health, the Region of Central Macedonia has thus given it greater weight in mosquito control in areas where Refugees Relocation and Accommodation Centers have been established and where intensive actions is being applied and all the appropriate measures required are being taken for the prevention of the diseases which are transmitted through mosquitoes. In the whole Region, 50 crews daily operate and carry out mosquito larvae samplings and sprayings in the agricultural, peri-urban and urban system. At the same time, at the areas of rice fields four helicopters operate conducting targeted actions where it is not feasible to approach the ground crews.
We are reminding the citizens that there is a Toll free Customer Care line: 800 11 24424 for reporting problems of increased nuisance by mosquitoes depending on the local conditions so that they can be promptly handled by the project promoter.