One woman staying in Tampines has been having a rather unpleasant experience recently, due mainly in part to the large number of mosquitoes in the premises.
The woman, named Jen, told Stomp that she encountered this predicament when she moved back into her mother's 509 Tampines Central 1 flat in October.
Many mosquito bodies
The pests have been such a nuisance that Jen has taken to documenting the number of mosquitoes found in her home and killed over the course of a month.
In a photo she submitted to Stomp, the mosquito carcasses were separated into ziploc bags for each week they were caught.
For example, on the week of Nov. 30, 66 mosquitoes were caught and killed.
Jen said that on the week of Nov. 20, she caught a "record number" of 103 mosquitoes.
Photo from Stomp
Jen said that this purge was conducted via "hourly wipeouts" using three electric swatters.
She is desperate to exterminate the pests, as the sheer number of the buzzing insects is "affecting [her] family's quality of life".
It has also made it hard for the family to work from home.
Even if Jen and her family are not bitten all the time, their legs are itchy as the mosquitoes keep flying about.
She said she suspects the source of the mosquitoes to be an "overgrown tree" outside their house, speculating that they are breeding there.
Jen added that she has since informed the National Environment Agency (NEA) and town council, and wishes for the tree to be chopped down.
Mothership has reached out to NEA for more information.
Dengue hotspots in Tampines
Tampines currently has a number of dengue hotspots, with three locations identified to be dengue "red" zones, according to the NEA website.
Four other locations have been identified to be "yellow" zones.
"Red" and "yellow" zones are areas with 10 or more dengue cases, and areas with less than 10 dengue cases, respectively.
The number of dengue cases this year have risen to a high — the total number of cases in 2020 is expected to exceed the 22,170 cases reported in 2013.
That was the year with the largest dengue outbreak in Singapore’s history.
In August, a 25-year-old person in Singapore died from dengue, becoming the youngest person to die from the disease in 2020.
Wolbachia mosquitoes?
There is the possibility that the mosquitoes Jen has been seeing are Wolbachia-Aedes mosquitoes.
Male mosquitoes are infected with the Wolbachia bacteria, rendering them sterile.
They are then released in certain areas where they will mate with the female Aedes mosquitoes, effectively helping to curb the Aedes population.
Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes have been released in several areas including Tampines, Nee Soon, Bukit Batok and Choa Chu Kang.
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Top photo from Stomp