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Reference ID U27YSN

Headline Malaria in the WHO region of Americas

Description During the first three quarters of 1955, malaria claimed 32 lives in Trinidad, in 1945 the malaria death toll was over 400. In the main, malaria eradication in Trinidad required annihilation of the Anopheles bellator mosquito, which breeds in the "reservoirs" of water which form among the thick, spike-like leaves of bromeliads - which develop like pineapples plants and grow on the trunk and limbs of trees. Of the 57 species of bromeliads known to flourish in Trinidad, the Aquilegia gravisia, which grows specifically on Immortelle trees, is known to be the most troublesome of the hosts of the Anopheles bellator mosquito. The only effective method of eradicating the Anopheles bellator mosquito is by destroying the Aquilegia gravisia bromeliad by spraying it with copper sulphate. The effect becomes evident after about 7 days: the weakened spike-like leaves droop, thus destroying the water reservoirs and turn brown as the plant dies. It then falls from the tree which gave it support. The malaria eradication programme in Trinidad - of which bromeliad control was an integrated part - was operated by the Malaria Division of the Trinidad and Tobago Health Department, with technical advisory assistance from the Pan American Sanitary Bureau (PASB), Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization, and considerable material assistance from UNICEF.

Mr Sidney Ferreira, senior inspector of the Malaria Division holding a hefty sample of Aquilegia gravisia, host of the Anopheles bellator. Behind him is a collection of some of the 57 known species of bromeliads. Mr Ferreira was able to study insect control at the Carlos Finlay Institute, Cuba, on a fellowship offered by the Pan American Sanitary Bureau.

Asset date 01/01/1955

Country, area, WHO office Trinidad and Tobago

WHO Region AMRO

Consent No

File size 4.12 MB

Visibility class:

Public

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