Vigo, Sep 23 (EFE).- The Pontevedra towns of Moaña and Cangas, the first in which the tiger mosquito has been sighted in Galicia, have set up a dozen traps to hunt specimens of this species.
The Moaña City Council will assume the surveillance of the traps in its area and has entrusted the containment plan for the tiger mosquito to the company that controls pests, the Councilor for the Environment, Dolores Chapela, explained to Efe.
Technicians from the University of Vigo and the Xunta will train the employees of this pest control company to deal with mosquitoes.
Every seven days the samples are collected and the traps are placed again to contain the advance of this species of mosquitoes.
Eight traps have been set up in Moaña and another two in Cangas, municipalities in which more than fifty cases have been reported.
“The sample is small and the message is one of calm”, has specified the mayor of the Environment of Moaña.
The traps are of two types, the ‘sentinel’, of which three have been installed and which require electricity, and the ovitraps, in which the tiger mosquito deposits its eggs and which carry water inside.
On August 9, the Xunta de Galicia reported the presence of the first specimens of this species.
It was a resident of Moaña who reported the discovery of the tiger mosquito through the Mosquito Alert application, promoted by the Higher Center for Scientific Research (CSIC).
A subsequent study by the Galician Vector Surveillance Network certified that it was this species, a potential transmitter of diseases such as dengue, chikungunya or Zika viruses, which, so far, have not been found in the captured specimens.
Within the framework of the protocol established in the National Prevention, Surveillance and Control Plan, the Xunta set up a coordination committee of a technical nature that includes representatives of the autonomous departments of the Environment, Rural Affairs, the Interior, the health area of Vigo and the municipalities in which the presence of mosquitoes has been confirmed.
The committee, as stated by the Xunta in a statement, is coordinated by the general sub-directorate of Health Information and Epidemiology.
According to the Mosquito Alert application, 26 tiger mosquito specimens have been confirmed and another 42 are probable between the areas of Cangas and Moaña (61) and Vigo (7).
