Boa Vista Experience

admin · Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 2007 Posts: 547

The local population on Boa Vista responded positively to the government's call to combat mosquitoes. Several institutions, companies, associations and private individuals took to the streets with gloves and masks to collect garbage and eliminate breeding sites of mosquitoes and raise awareness with the distribution of leaflets on the virus dengue.

A campaign started yesterday which saw the City Council working in partnership with construction companies. Most of the "lakes" that formed from the rainy season were filled with sand, taken from an area pre-identified by the municipality. The private companies entered this fight with machines and workers. Today they are continuing to put sand in all the puddles of water, including in the Barracas.

It is in the Barracas where most of the people concentrated to eliminate breeding sites of mosquitoes. Five groups were distributed by the local community to help with garbage collection. Some collected garbage, empty cans and bottles filled with water, while others will show the volunteers the flooded homes.

The neighborhood, thankfully, has not been much affected by mosquitoes, although pools of water abound there. Being an area built on salt, the water that accumulates contains too much salt, avoiding the reproduction of mosquito larvae.

This mega campaign of refuse collection in Boa Vista is also extended to other villages on the island, with the protagonists of this important task the local population.

A Semana
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andre · Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 2:29 pm Post subject:

Thank goodness for the salt! The scourge of builders, the concern of property owners, but the saviour of the residents against these damn mosquitoes!

Andre

jak · Senior Member Joined: 19 Oct 2007 Posts: 912

Andre,

it is amazing that Boa Vista has so far escaped the ravages of the Dengue outbreak. It must be hoped that the authorities are taking all necessary precasutions such as fumagating inter island flights.

When I was on Boa Vista in September there were numerous areas of standing water that were not on the salt pans. It must be hoped that these have now evaporated.

below is the link to some of the news stories of what is happening in the rest of Cape Verde:

http://boavistaexperience.phpbbweb.com/viewtopic.php?t=646

John

andre · Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 11:45 am Post subject:

John,

Thinking about it, 2006 figures, Cape Verde about 450,000 inhabitants on the islands. Santiago over 200,000. Boa Vista 4,000 odd. Praia alone has a population of over 100,000. Yes, the figure for Boa Vista has swelled dramatically in the last 3 years, indications are of a population of 7,000 to 8,000, definitely less than 10,000. Thus, as statistics appear Santiago has the bulk of cases.

It has been said the southern most islands are worst affected. Maio has been affected and is the closest affected island to Boa Vista. Maio has a population almost 3X that of Boa Vista. There are no flights between the 2 islands. Yes, there are flights between Santiago and Boa Vista, but as you say, they are probably fumigating onboard.

Boa Vista Airport brings in a lot of people. However I would say over 90% of those coming from the north, i.e from Europe. Some from Sal, which is hardly affected ( north of the affected islands).

Then we now also hear the effect of the "sal".

I believe the campaign to clean up recently has been well-timed. Congratulations to the authorities/businesses on Boa Vista.

Sadly it will happen, hopefully the beautiful island of Boa Vista is largely spared.

Andre

Dave Clive · Joined: 26 Nov 2007 Posts: 44 Location: Kent

We have been here ten days now and have only seen one mosquito and that was in our bathroom. The clean up operation seems to have been a success.
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Dave Clive

jak · Senior Member Joined: 19 Oct 2007 Posts: 912

Dave,

many thanks for the update, did everyone down tools on Friday to go on a mosquito hunt as reported in the local newspapers?

I hear that the weather has been really good as well.

Regards,

John

Dave Clive · Joined: 26 Nov 2007 Posts: 44 Location: Kent

One of the owners saw people spraying the bushes around the salt pans. We did notice that the kids were off from school on Friday, maybe this was connected maybe not. Sand has been laid in the school car park to deal with the standing water there.

The weather has been 31 degrees every day in the shade on our balcony and mainly wall to wall sunshine, just a few fluffy clouds.

A few days ago we looked out to see what looked like small birds flying around which turned out to be locusts, not that many though.

Regards

Dave
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Dave Clive

admin · Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 2007 Posts: 547

The number of new cases of dengue reported in Cape Verde dropped to 772 between yesterday and today, down from 996 between Monday and Tuesday. No deaths have been attributed to the disease so far this week. The medical bulletin released at noon today registered a total of 772 new cases over the previous 24 hours, nine of which corresponded to dengue hemorrhagic fever. All told, 13,959 suspected cases of dengue have officially been registered since the outbreak was declared an epidemic in mid-October.

Praia remains the epicenter of the epidemic with the majority of the new cases registered (516), although there appears to be an upward trend in São Filipe (Fogo), with 155 new cases, and Maio, with 33 new cases. Health sector facilities in Brava, Boa Vista, Ribeira Brava and São Lourenço dos órgãos registered no new cases.

A Semana
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correia247 · Joined: 29 Aug 2008 Posts: 144 Location: London

Hi Everyone,
Just returned from a week in Boavista, the clean up was still ongoing at Povoacao Velha on the 10th when we stoped there for a drink. On the 11 November we went down to Sal Rei, they were still people with bin liners picking up rubbish on the streets, the place is much cleaner this year.
The water on Sal Rei is not a problem, because it's a ''salina''.

If there is no more rain, the mosquitoes will not be able to breed as the standing water will soon be gone.

Will post some photos over the next days.

Regards,
Manuel

jak · Senior Member Joined: 19 Oct 2007 Posts: 912

Hi Manuel,

I am looking forward to hearing your stories from your visit to Boa Vista and seeing your pictures.

I see that the local authorities are taking the Dengue Fever outbreak seriously with public information posters:

and there appears to be a real effort to clean out the habitats for mosquitos:

John

correia247 · Joined: 29 Aug 2008 Posts: 144 Location: London

Hi John,

I had a great week in Boavista, I will share my pictures and stories with you as soon as I can get some time to calm down, because I had work waiting friday and today, now I'll have two days off to sort out some photos and video clips.

Met Dada on a day out, he is very happy and busy, said you two had a great time and sends regards.

The people of Boavista are taking the Dengue very serious, by having a car announcing the alert and awareness on the streets, posters and a massive street clean.
I don't really like to take photos of people, i saw lots of people with bin liners, like the photo above in Rabil, Povocao Velha, Sal Rei.

Manuel