15 Per Cent, of Fijians

Have Filaria

Suva, Sept. 1.

A MEDICAL survey exteding over five years shows that 18 per cent, of Fijian males and 11 per cent, of females are affected by filariasis, the mosquito-borne disease which causes (among other things) elephantiasis. The average infestation is 15 per cent.

Men are affected most because their clothing leaves more of the body exposed.

The disease is most prevalent in coastal areas where coconut palms are plentiful.

The officer in charge of Mosquito Con trol, Mr. Stanley Nelson, says that control of the mosquito demands con tinuous teamwork by the native communities.

Filariasis is carried in Fiji by the mosquito Aedes Scutellaris pseudoscut ellarls. It breeds in rot holes in trees or rotted stems of small shrubs, bamboo stumps or bamboo poles used as fence posts or barricades for pigs, turtles, etc., coconut shells or husks, old tins, bottles, drums, tanks or any small container capable of holding rain water, boats hauled up on to dry land for repairs, and leaf axils.

The adult mosquito of this species, in Fiji, bites in the daytime. It invades houses in search of a blood meal, after which it flies out again in search of shelter in long grass, bush, etc. Its flight range, in Fiji, is limited to not more than 150 yards.

The control methods now in use are therefore to destroy all possible breeding places within villages, clear each village of all possible shelter such as long grass and shrubs, and then clear all bush, long grass and reeds from a belt 100 yards in depth round the perimeter of each village.