Mosquito fogging completed in Phnom Penh

by Som Sotheary
August 28, 2024

A mosquito eradication campaign in Russey Keo commune of Russey Keo district in Phnom Penh on August 18, 2024. Heng Chivoan photo

A mosquito eradication campaign to stop the spread of dengue fever concluded in all 105 communes across 14 districts of Phnom Penh on Sunday.

Phnom Penh Municipal Health Department Director Ngy Mean Heng said on Monday that the mosquito eradication campaign that closed on Sunday night was carried out successfully.

The campaign is aimed at reducing the risk of a dengue fever epidemic by killing mosquitoes and their larvae. Insecticide was sprayed in all of the communes and districts of Phnom Penh over a nine-day period beginning on August 17 and finishing on August 25.

“It is effective, and people appreciate it because when their neighbourhood is sprayed with mosquito repellent, it kills mosquitoes for a time, but do not forget the life of the mosquito is only one week and the mosquito larvae will be able to hatch again,” Mean Heng said.

He emphasised that spraying mosquito repellent can only kill mosquitoes and is only effective for a short period of time.

“When we spray, we kill adult mosquitoes, but the spraying does not kill the mosquito larvae and the mosquitoes hatch from the mosquito larvae eventually,” Mean Heng said.

He said he hopes that this campaign will help prevent the spread of dengue fever but he encourages individual citizens to take of their surrounding environment to reduce the risks further.

“They have to eliminate tiger mosquito shelters around their homes – that includes all sources of standing water such as reservoirs. If they want to protect themselves they can use Abate in standing water to kill larvae, because Abate is now available at health centres,” he said.

“Use Abate in water sources to kill mosquito larvae. Eliminating tiger mosquito breeding grounds means reducing mosquito numbers. If they can eliminate tiger mosquito breeding grounds around their homes within 300 metres of their home then there won’t be any to transmit the disease,” he added.

He said that dengue fever in 2024 is expected to show a decrease in cases of more than 60% this year over 2023 in Phnom Penh.

“By educating people to eradicate tiger mosquito breeding grounds and through telling people to put Abate in pools or big jars, we see that dengue fever decreased,” Mean Heng said.

The disease often peaks cyclically every four to five years, which accounts for the high prevalence of dengue fever last year as the last peak occurred in 2019.

In February, Prime Minister Hun Manet noted that promoting people’s health and well-being is a top government objective that all ministries, organizations and local administrations need to focus on.

He urged the people of Phnom Penh to help eliminate tiger mosquito breeding grounds to prevent their reproduction. The first phase of the Pentagonal Strategy, implemented last August to promote human capital development, prioritised the health and well-being of the population.