Fogging in Hulhumale to kill mosquitoes

Urbanco is preparing to start fogging the entire city of Hulhumale from Tuesday as a precautionary measure following the detection of cases of Filariasis in the city.

Cases of the eradicated Filariasis were found in Kulhudhuffushi in the middle of this month during a screening camp conducted for foreign workers in the island.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has started testing for Filariasis in other parts of the country on the advice of the WHO.

The first Filariasis case in the city was reported last Friday, in the city of Hulhumale.

A total of seven cases of Filariasis have been reported in the Male area now, including five in Hulhumale.

Urbanco said in an X post on Tuesday that it will start fogging Hulhumale from Tuesday onwards twice daily to prevent Filariasis.

Urbanco said the city will be divided into 20 zones, and will be fogged twice daily at the following times:

"Therefore, we urge you not to stay outside during these times unless absolutely necessary," Urbanco said in a post.

Filariasis is commonly spread by the Culex mosquito that lives in dirty water. This type of mosquito is also found in Maldives. However, Filariasis is not so easily spread. Filariasis is most often spread through the bite of an infected mosquito with a parasitic worm called Wuchereria bancrofti. The mosquito acts as a medium that transmits the disease from an infected person to a clean one.

After entering the body, the parasites that cause Filariasis takes about 8-12 months to cause symptoms, taking time to multiply and multiply in the body before showing. The treatment for filariasis is two medicines that are administered once.

The first symptoms include:

The last case of filariasis was reported in 2004 in L. Fonadhoo. The survey conducted since 2008 has not found any new cases of filariasis, the Health Ministry said.

A WHO team visited Maldives in 2011 to ensure that filariasis was eradicated. The disease was declared eradicated in Maldives in 2016.