By Andrea Hargraves 
The Municipal Health Department of Birigi is implementing an emergency task force against the Aedes aegypti mosquito in neighborhoods that have recorded an increase in dengue cases this year. The event, which began on Monday (7) in Cidade Jardim, will cover 13 neighborhoods in the city.
The goal is to remove potential breeding areas for mosquitoes that transmit dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus from properties, as well as to strengthen guidance for residents on daily measures to prevent the spread of the insect. Old furniture, scrap and trash are not collected.
On Tuesday (8), more than 30 community and endemic health agents, plus five supervisors, toured homes, businesses, and vacant land in the Ivone Alves Palma neighborhood, clearing containers that could accumulate water.
This week, the joint effort will take place in the neighborhoods of Teresa Maria Barbier and Jandaya 3. The event will also take place in the neighborhoods of São Bras, Cohab 3, Residencial Aurora, Monte Libano 1 and 2, João Criflaro, Santana, Quemil and Quinta da Mata.
protection
We have started this task force to control and even reduce suspected and positive dengue cases in this part of the city. The Minister of Health, Cassia Rita Santana Celestino, has stated that we are ramping up the house-to-house measures that agents are performing daily to prevent the spread of the disease.
Customers are properly dressed and identified by badges and bags, following all health protocols against covid-19. It is very important that citizens wear a mask to receive agents and cooperate in work, allowing professionals to enter to conduct inspections.
“We ask the cooperation of all residents to avoid stagnation of water in drains and useless items, as well as to wash animal drinking troughs with loofah and soap and fill plant pots with coarse sand,” directed the Head of Monitoring and Vector Control Department Allen Sagerato Lopato.
cases
According to the Ministry of Health, this year the city recorded 226 positive cases of dengue fever, without deaths. A further 136 cases are under investigation. No cases of Zika virus, chikungunya or yellow fever have been reported. In 2021, the municipality had 631 cases of dengue and one death from the disease.