Read at : Google Alert – drought
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1882145
Drought strategy could breed disease
The Queensland government’s strategy to combat drought may lead to epidemics of mosquito-borne diseases, a health expert says. Battling prolonged drought in the state’s south-east, the Queensland government has subsidised the installation of almost 250,000 household water tanks. James Cook University’s tropical health expert Scott Ritchie said the tanks were a potential mosquito-breeding site if not properly maintained. Health Minister Stephen Robertson said the government would depend on public education alone to ensure the tanks did not become breeding grounds for mosquitoes which could cause dengue fever and other diseases.
But Ritchie said even a 97% compliance to education campaigns could still lead to disease epidemics.
“It is a risk,” he said. He said the Asian Tiger mosquito was in the Torres Strait, and recently had caused an outbreak of the disease chikungunya (chikungunya) virus in Italy.
“We could see epidemics of it,” Ritchie said.
“If this whole water-hoarding, rainwater tank thing isn’t correctly managed, then in five or 10 years, Brisbane especially could be in for a lot of fun.
“There could be some pretty big outbreaks.”
(continued)
