bernie@limerickpost.ie
NORMALLY, people have to pass THROUGH Shannon airport going in the opposite direction before they get bitten by Mosquitos.
But lately, Shannon locals have ben itching and stinging in their droves and local pharmacies are restocking Mossie repellents and antidotes as fast as it’s running off the shelves.
Shannon Municipal Councillor Gerry Flynn (Ind) told a recent meeting of the Municipal council that “people are spending significant amounts on medication. It’s a huge issue”.
The councillor said that while people might laugh, “but it’s very serious. We have a lot of residential estates ans we have proposals for 100 acres to build more houses”.
He said people visiting the graveyard or out walking or running “are coming out in lumps. People are asking me is there any connection between the decrepid state of our treatment plant and the Mosquitoes?”
But while the nasty biting insects are causing a huge nuisance, the HSE has moved to assure sufferers that irish Mosquitos carry no pay-load nastier than their bite.
According to the HSE, the Irish cousins of the insect blamed for the Zika virus do not carry human infections because there are not enough of them in the country.
“Large numbers of Mosquitoes are needed to sustain an infection…our winter kills off Mosquitoes and that protects us”.
Nor do the insects have enough infected people or animals as sources of infected blood to spread that infection.
