No flies on the Town of Holyrood

By Chris Lewis   |   Vol. 31 No. 50 (February 27 2019)

Mosquitoes in the Holyrood area are soon to be the subject of an upcoming Memorial University study.

During a regular meeting of council in Holyrood held on Tuesday evening, Chief Administrative Officer Gary Corbett outlined a research project being conducted by Memorial University that looks to study various aspects of mosquito activity in the province. One location of study for this project is Holyrood, and researchers are looking to the people of the community to aid in the research.

The project aims to identify exactly what type of mosquitoes are living in the province, as well as what type of viruses they may or may not carry, and how climate change will impact the insects.

Currently, the information available on mosquito activity in Newfoundland is minimal. That’s exactly what the two-year project, funded by the public health agency of Canada, aims to change.

“The researchers will provide all the materials and instructions necessary for mosquito collection,” Corbett explained of the project. “They will analyze the mosquito species, and test for viruses. The results will be returned to the town with information about the species.”

Collection of mosquitoes is set to begin this spring and continue until autumn. Corbett said participants are free to collect as many, or as few, mosquitoes as they please.