Swarmed by Project Wolbachia Mosquitoes
I stay in the East and in one of the areas where NEA releases modified mosquitoes twice a week. Once on Mondays and another one on Thursdays. Just some background, Project Wolbachia is curated by National Environment Agency (NEA) by releasing male Wolbachia-carrying Aedes aegypti (Wolbachia-Aedes) mosquitoes mate with urban female Aedes aegypti that do not carry Wolbachia, their resulting eggs do not hatch. Every week, millions of mosquitoes are released across the island. Btw for the curious ones who wonder how to tell male and female apart, you can see through their antenna (the mouth region there). Male mosquitoes have a bushy antenna almost like a few strands of hair. Female mosquito only has 1 long antenna. Unfortunately for me who stays on a lower floor, I get these swarms of mosquitoes every Monday and Thursday. On normal days, I get maybe more than 10-20 male mosquitoes flying into my house. I initially thought my house was a breeding around but figured out it was not because I got no stagnant water laying around. I tried closing all my windows and doors but who can keep it close forever? Still gotta open it sometimes so that your clothes can dry. Last Monday, I forgot to close my balcony window so I woke up with over 200 mosquitoes in my living room. I have attached a picture for y’all to see. This is only a fraction of what I have killed. Male mosquitoes love to chill around your dark coloured items, on you and fly around your ears so it can be annoying. My saviour is my electric swatter. Some people ask, “omg why are you killing these male mosquitoes?”. Why? It is damn bloody annoying. They will literally swarm your entire house. Imagine taking your bag and you casually just see 10 mosquitoes start flying from it, or you eat your dinner and feel a few mosquitoes landing on your legs and thighs, or you sleep and you hear the high-pitched mosquito buzzing sound around your ears, or you wanna go shit and you just see 5 mosquitoes chilling on the toilet bowl or basin and start flying all over the place while you’re taking a crap. I also have an electric lamp - the one that you plug it into a socket and there will be that blue-ish light surrounded by electrified metal rods. However, I recently read online that it does not actually attract mosquitoes but I alr bought it so might as well just use, and it somehow manages to zap a couple daily too. Imagine having so many mosquitoes that a gadget not having the capability to attract these creatures also can manage to kill it. I emailed NEA before to ask if there was a huge influx in mosquitoes and asked if the release location could be slightly adjusted. Their response was their officers have conducted mosquito inspection and no breeding ground was found. They will sustain mosquito surveillance and eliminate any potential mosquito breeding ground. Here comes the funny part "Additionally, we wish to highlight that the increased mosquito presence you have noticed may be attributed to NEA's ongoing 'Project Wolbachia' in your estate. Residents typically observe a temporary rise in mosquito numbers during the first few days following our scheduled releases on Mondays and Thursdays. Residents may wish to close their doors and windows during these periods to minimise mosquito entry." I mean like what do you mean by first few days? NEA literally releases twice a week on Day 1 Monday and Day 4 Thursday. Don’t first few days just mean everyday? Project Wolbachia is currently still ongoing and expanding, with an estimated 50% coverage by 2026 across the island. So for some of you who stay on the lower floors and not currently getting these male mosquitoes, please brace yourself when the program starts in your area. Also, I was cooking egg early in the morning and I heard a very familiar zapping sound coming from my neighbour downstairs too LOL. Guess electric swatter is their weapon too.
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