An Unpronounceable Disease

Singapore's tropical climate could support all sorts of nasty diseases but mostly doesn't because of consistent investment in prevention schemes. Monthly fogging and oiling of drains, rubbish chutes and manholes keep mosquito breeding in check as it's the Aedes mozzie that is the transmission vector for Dengue fever.

The NEA have patrols out checking for pools and pots with standing water. More senior staff do house to house visits and they do fine persistent offenders but a $1,000 fine for repeatedly putting lives at risk seems a poor deterrent. My current estate agent lady casually mentioned she had Dengue and was laid up for a week. It doesn't kill many people who have access to health care but it's no holiday.

Since January this year, a new mozzie-borne virus with very similar symptoms has been found: Chikungunya. All the initial patients were in the Little India area, and it makes sense that when transmitted by mozzies with a 250m range of movement, the disease tends to stay put.

The problem with Chikungunya is the name; no-one I know can remember it properly and you end up saying something which rhymes, like Chumbawamba, and your co-conversationalist nods without attempting a better rendition.

So there's a nasty disease with a public relations problem. The doctor who discovered and named SARS (and died of it) knew what the world needed; a tight, catchy name people could remember. AIDS, MRSA, Bird flu, TB; all examples of successful branding.

Chikungunya is now moving around; an expat got it in Thompson Road, then Farrer Road and now a mutation means it can be carried by the Asian Tiger mozzie as well. But the most depressing piece of the ST article was not the local biotech firm pledging to start work on a vaccine, but the throw away line that the US military already has a vaccine but has stopped testing because

"Priorities have since changed. The focus now is global terrorism."

Sometimes, the whole world looks like one big unintended consequence.

Fogging Redux

I realise I may have left regular readers wondering how many 'roaches made it into my kitchen as a temporary respite from the insecticidal fogging of the garbage chute last week:

• Roaches: 1
• Other small insects: 3

All of which were in that dazed, running around in a circle state that drugged up insects get (fair enough, 6 legs is a lot to manage when drunk). I squished the 'roach and next time I came through to check, the ants had found it and were trying to live until Christmas on the fallen bonanza.

You are supposed to tape up the chute so they can't get in but life's too short and I don't have any tape. I think my chute cover is an original from the flat's construction. I regularly get door-to-door salesmen trying to sell stainless steel upgrades which look pretty swanky and are probably insect proof, but it's a rented flat and the chute cover is built-in into a cupboard so visual appearance is not a concern. Anyway look at the "My Family and other Animals" type of fun I would be missing.

Void Deck Critters

If Singapore is a concrete jungle, then the HDB void decks are the leaf litter, containing a myriad of non-human life.

Cockroaches and mosquitoes are the main insect pests which are kept in check by regular insecticidal fogging, focusing on the garbage chutes and drains respectively. I'm no 'roach expert but here they seem torpid and slow moving. Even a lively one is easy to catch and squish. Tomorrow is fogging day and I'm supposed to tape up around the garbage chute to stop the 'roaches from escaping the insecticide. I've never bothered or have forgotten up till now and the worst that seems to happen is to find a dead/dying 'roach on the kitchen floor. There was one that managed to crawl as far as the living room before succumbing. Tough bugger.

There are lots of owned and stray cats, mostly with partially docked tails (not sure why). They are conspicuously un-neutered and a merry courting dance is a daily affair. I don't know that anyone is doing anything about this but we are far from over-run. It's fun to see them walking along in the drain gullies with just a pair of ears visible. Most are wary of humans but will readily approach a friendly call, and continue on their daily search for food when they ascertain you are offering none. Some idiot dog owners let their dogs chase cats but it's mostly harmless and cats can duck down into the surface drains and either wait or pop up yards away out of another drain.

Cats with permanent hosts may never leave their flats or its immediate environs. My near neighbour's cat stays within 10yds of the front door, hiding behind plant pots to avoid kids and bikes on the landing. The poor animal is tortured because it lives next to the lifts so when he hears the doors open, he doesn't know whether the incomer is friend or foe. Lonely, neurotic and armed with claws. A potent combination.

The Fog of War

Today was chute fogging day again. This is when the council come round and use their neat fumigation machines (a cross between a leaf blower and a strimmer) to kill the vermin in the vertical garbage chutes. They do this every 6 weeks or so and let you know a couple of days in advance with a slip in the letterbox.

I prefer to be at home for this as the roaches crawl out of the chute into the kitchen and try to clear their heads of the chemical. So you end up with woozy roaches running around and it's hard not to feel panicy. Knowing they are going to die is no consolation. Immediate dispatch and clearance is. They are disgusting and scarily hardy creatures.

For the birds, it's rich pickings as the void deck is covered with fleeing insects. Not sure the chemical is healthy for them but the council guys must breathe it in all day and they seem fine with it.