P-Ng Cattle Industry "Great"

The potential of the cattle in dustry in Papua-New Guinea was far greater than that in Australia, Colonel L. A. Rose said in Lae, NG, in September.

Colonel Rose, a former Director of Animal Industries in the Northern Territory, had just completed a long survey of the cattle industry in New Guinea, briefed by the Minister for Territories, Mr. Paul Hasluck.

The unique situation of the Tokelau Islands provides an oppor tunity to ascertain whether similar control of disease-carriers under ideal conditions is feasible.

Chemical v. Biology

Cultures of the parasite will be liberated on Nukunono, one of the atolls forming the group of islands.

Fakaofa atoll will be used as a con trol and left untouched; and a third atoll, Atafu, will be subjected to the more accepted method by an in secticide—specially made briquettes containing dieldrin will be sunk into pools where the mosquitoes breed.

The experiment has the strong support of the Department of Health and other interested departments of the New Zealand Government.

The World Health Organisation i$ providing $6,000 toward the under taking and providing two consultants —Dr. Laird, now of the Institute of Parasitology, McGill University, Canada, and Dr. D. H. Colless, of the Department of Parasitology, University of Malaya.

They travelled to the Tokelau Islands from Apia by a Royal New Zealand Air Force flying boat, early in September. Their transport around the atolls of the group, while carrying out their experiment, will be provided by HMNZS Endeavour, which will be there to assist in the transport of scientists observing the eclipse of the sun from Atafu on October 7.

The mosquito control project will be completed about the middle of October, after which Dr. Laird will briefly visit New Zealand.

Dr. Laird served in the Royal NZ Air Force during the war, when he was closely associated with problems of mosquito control on Pacific air fields. Because of the importance of his research he was retained by the Air Force after the war to continue his studies.

Buxton's Line

Several years ago he proposed a study of the anopheles mosquito along “Buxton’s Line”. Buxton was a scientist who, about the turn of the century, defined the area in which the mosquito lived, and said its spread was limited. Dr. Laird doubted the accuracy of this and spent two years studying its habitat in some 400 locations.

He found that there were other areas, including non-malarial areas, which would favour its growth and that it was only the accident of geographical isolation which had prevented it.

In the course of his study, he also discovered a fungus parasite which was lethal to the mosquito. With Dr.

Colless he cultured this parasite while working in a research post at the University of Singapore. The World Health Organisation was in terested in his work and agreed that it should be tested in the Tokelaus.