Sally Furniss
Well-known member
'Vaccinate monkeys from yellow fever'
Ariti Jankie South Bureau
There is a call for the State to help save the red howler monkeys dying in the forest from the mosquito-borne yellow fever virus that has panicked rural communities.
People in high-risk areas are being vaccinated against the virus, but few are considering the fate of the monkeys, said Mohan Bholasingh, president of the South Western Hunters Association.
So far, 18 dead monkeys have been found in the Trinity Hills area of Guayaguayare along the south eastern forests West into Moruga and north to the Fishing Pond district of Sangre Grande, he said.
Bholasingh said the Government should find a way to immunise the monkey population against the "haemagogus janthinomys" mosquito which carries the yellow fever virus.
He said that dead monkeys were spotted almost every day by people living close to the forest.
"Just yesterday, I got a call from a man who saw two dead monkeys at Bristol, Mayaro," he said last Wednesday.
He pointed out that industrialisation had put more people closer to the forests and they were at risk of contracting jungle yellow fever.
In early January, following the discovery of a number of monkeys found dead in the forest, Government took action, opening health facilities for weekend vaccination against the yellow fever virus.
Officials at the Guayaguayare Health Facility said that there have been long lines of people waiting on vaccinations and many had to be turned back.
"Government did not send us sufficient vaccines," an official said.
The official said that there was a limited supply and advised residents of the area to walk with their vaccination cards to determine whether or not they need a vaccine.
"Yellow fever vaccines are given to children at the age of one and at ten or 11 years of age," he said adding that one vaccine lasted for ten years.
Bholasingh, who had been researching the howler monkeys, pointed to an epidemic in 1978/79 in which 18 people lost their lives.
"Those who died were from the same area and had not been vaccinated," he said.
He said that all the members of the association had been vaccinated and during the hunting season they all slept under mosquito nets in the forest camps.
"We are very concerned about the death of the howler monkeys and need more research conducted on the monkey population," he said.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161449229
Ariti Jankie South Bureau
There is a call for the State to help save the red howler monkeys dying in the forest from the mosquito-borne yellow fever virus that has panicked rural communities.
People in high-risk areas are being vaccinated against the virus, but few are considering the fate of the monkeys, said Mohan Bholasingh, president of the South Western Hunters Association.
So far, 18 dead monkeys have been found in the Trinity Hills area of Guayaguayare along the south eastern forests West into Moruga and north to the Fishing Pond district of Sangre Grande, he said.
Bholasingh said the Government should find a way to immunise the monkey population against the "haemagogus janthinomys" mosquito which carries the yellow fever virus.
He said that dead monkeys were spotted almost every day by people living close to the forest.
"Just yesterday, I got a call from a man who saw two dead monkeys at Bristol, Mayaro," he said last Wednesday.
He pointed out that industrialisation had put more people closer to the forests and they were at risk of contracting jungle yellow fever.
In early January, following the discovery of a number of monkeys found dead in the forest, Government took action, opening health facilities for weekend vaccination against the yellow fever virus.
Officials at the Guayaguayare Health Facility said that there have been long lines of people waiting on vaccinations and many had to be turned back.
"Government did not send us sufficient vaccines," an official said.
The official said that there was a limited supply and advised residents of the area to walk with their vaccination cards to determine whether or not they need a vaccine.
"Yellow fever vaccines are given to children at the age of one and at ten or 11 years of age," he said adding that one vaccine lasted for ten years.
Bholasingh, who had been researching the howler monkeys, pointed to an epidemic in 1978/79 in which 18 people lost their lives.
"Those who died were from the same area and had not been vaccinated," he said.
He said that all the members of the association had been vaccinated and during the hunting season they all slept under mosquito nets in the forest camps.
"We are very concerned about the death of the howler monkeys and need more research conducted on the monkey population," he said.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161449229