Health officials have discovered at Honolulu Airport a mosquito species capable of rapidly spreading dengue and yellow fever — a species not found on Oahu in 63 years.
As a result, a warning was issued Tuesday to residents, who are being asked to remove standing water to prevent the spread of mosquitoes.
After determining earlier this month that mosquito eggs collected from a mosquito trap at the airport in January came from the species Aedes aegypti, follow-up surveillance was begun immediately to determine whether the aegypti had established itself in other areas of Oahu.
GETTING RID OF MOSQUITO BREEDING SPOTS
>> Clear standing water from areas where mosquitoes can breed. |
>> Inspect your yard and home and eliminate anything that holds water and can breed mosquitoes.
>> Throw away junk that collects water such as old buckets, tires and flowerpots.
>> Clear rain gutters and turn over empty containers.
>> Treat anything you can’t dump out with soapy water to kill mosquito larvae.
Source: State Department of Health |
Health officials said no additional aegypti mosquitoes have been found, and it doesn’t appear there is a significant infestation at the airport.
The Aedes aegypti had not been found on Oahu since 1949. The Health Department’s vector control program said it was discovered to be at Honolulu Airport on March 5.
Although the aegypti was common in the 1940s and earlier in the 20th century, its cousin Aedes albopictus has "outcompeted and replaced it in most places of Hawaii," said Gary Gill, the Health Department’s deputy director of environmental health.
However, during the last large outbreak of dengue fever, in 2001, surveillance by the Health Department found aegypti in the Kona area, Gill said.
Mosquitoes at the airport might have originated from interisland flights from Kona.
The mosquito eggs that led to the identification were collected Jan. 9-17 from a trap at the airport designed to capture eggs laid by adult females.
The eggs were reared into adults to identify a species, and four females and four males were positively identified as Aedes aegypti. Health officials are trying to determine their country of origin using DNA testing.
"We can hope that what we’ve identified are the eggs laid by a single mosquito that came ashore … that one mosquito’s dead and we got all its babies. There’s no way of knowing," Gill said.
Health officials have received one reported case of imported dengue fever this year, but there are no reported active cases currently. In 2011 six imported cases of dengue fever were investigated.
Travelers, including Hawaii residents, can be bitten by an infected mosquito while overseas and bring the disease to Hawaii when they arrive in the islands, health officials said.
"Keeping down the mosquito population can prevent the spread of serious illnesses," Gill said in a statement. "This risk is made worse by rainy weather and now, the reappearance of the aegypti mosquito on Oahu. Let’s do what we can to protect our families friends and neighbors."
The Aedes aegypti, if infected, is associated with the efficient spread of dengue and yellow fever because it bites more people, Gill said.
Due to cutbacks in the Health Department’s Vector Control program, the traps at Honolulu Airport are the only routine mosquito surveillance performed on Oahu, health officials said.
The two species are generally black with white bands, but the aegypti is distinguished by two stripes on the back of its head, while albopictus has one bright stripe running down the middle of its back.
For more information on reducing mosquitoes, visit www.epa.gov/pesticides/ health/mosquitoes.
