Tag: MRCU
Mosquitos out in force after rain stalls prevention
(CNS): The Mosquito Research and Control Unit has said that its usual prevention and mitigation efforts to keep the pest numbers down were limited through mid-April due to high winds and rain. As a result MRCU is warning the public to “expect significantly higher numbers of mosquitoes” this week as a result of that wet […]
Complaints about MRCU boss under investigation
(CNS): Complaints by staff of the Mosquito Research and Control Unit about the director, Dr Jim McNelly, are under investigation, Health Minister Dwayne Seymour and Acting Chief Officer Nellie Pouchie have confirmed. The complaints were set out in a letter to the ministry in July, signed by what is believed to be a significant number […]
Minister visits MRCU a year after taking office
(CNS): More than twelve months after taking office, Health Minister Dwayne Seymour, accompanied by senior officials, made his first visit to the Mosquito Research and Control Unit headquarters last week, despite the controversies surrounding the contract with Oxitec, the bio-engineering firm that is producing sterile genetically modified mosquitoes. It is not clear why Seymour has […]
MRCU plans to expand GM mozzie project
(CNS): Following the near year-long trial in West Bay, where genetically modified mosquitoes were released to reduce the population of Aedes aegypti, the MRCU is planning to expand the programme. The project has proved controversial but interim results show a decline of 79% in the pest. Now the modified mosquitoes could be released across the […]
GM mosquito release approval ‘flawed’ argues QC
(CNS): The decision by the National Conservation Council to grant the Mosquito Research and Control Unit a permit approving the release of millions of genetically modified mosquitoes as part of a pilot project in West Bay was flawed and should be quashed, a lawyer representing local activists argued Tuesday. Stephen Tromans QC told the court […]
Four suspect Zika cases sent for testing
(CNS): Local public health officials have sent four blood samples from patients suspected of having the Zika virus to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in Trinidad for testing. Dr Samuel Williams-Rodriguez, the acting medical director, said the samples were sent on Wednesday, 22 June, after three residents and one visitor presented with symptoms consistent […]
MRCU leads charge to keep Cayman Zika free
(CNS): The director of the Mosquito Research and Control Unit (MRCU) said that his department’s contingency plan for the possible arrival of the Zika virus to the Cayman Islands is underway as staff work on the ground in yards across the island. There are still no reported cases of Zika here but with more than […]
Mosquito unit begins island wide spraying operation
(CNS): The Mosquito Research and Control Unit (MRCU) has started aerial operations over mosquito-breeding swamp areas on Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. The third time the specialist plane has sprayed this year, the operation began in the Sister Islands this week. Involving low-level flights during the mornings and late afternoons, weather permitting, the […]
MRCU begins island-wide mosquito attack
(CNS): Biting mosquitos are under coming under attack today as the Mosquito Research & Control Unit (MRCU) begins aerial operations over the swamp areas, where the pesky insects breed, on Grand Cayman and the Sister Islands. Some 12,000 acres of swamp are targeted in this operation in Grand Cayman, 320 acres in Cayman Brac and […]
