Mosquitoes
Puerto Vallarta is not free of mosquitoes. What are they good for? Absolutely nothing, we’ve been told. Eliminating them, however, is not simply a major challenge, it is a task associated with harm to the environment and we have enough of that already. There is ongoing research into how to find a balance in nature with an acceptable solution.
What you can do to protect yourself in Puerto Vallarta is keep your home and gardens mosquito-free by having no standing water available for them to breed. Some people use electronic repellers and swear by them; we’ve tried them and not sure if they work or not. We use coils, which when lit put out an odor similar to incense; find a spot close to ankle territory to place them. You can find them in supermarkets, hardware stores, pharmacies, just about anywhere. Screens on windows are imperative. Ceiling and standard fans are essential. Creams and sprays are advisable and can be purchased from your local pharmacy.
Mosquitoes are more than pesky animals that keep you awake at night, humming around your ears, causing anxiety and nasty itching welts; they have the potential to make people deathly ill and cause birth defects in the unborn.
Scientific breakthroughs are taking place in Mexico City. Mexican scientists have developed a bio-insecticide that works to stop mosquitoes from reaching adulthood and thereby breeding. The serum stops the actual genes from developing; this type of study is formally known as gene silencing, and uses RNA interference to create a biological insecticide, which will not harm the environment. This has been the challenge. With previous solutions, while we kill the mosquitoes by stopping their breeding, we also wipe out useful insects, along with the pests. Same goes for the flora, which is also heavily impacted. We need both the plants and little animals to sustain the environment.
The pride of this being accomplished by scientists in Mexico goes without saying. Associates at the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico City are intent on fine tuning the technique, developing a product that’s in a biological sequence targeted at a precise life form, with no risks to others. Wiping out the aedes aegypti, the mosquito specific to such syndromes as Zika, Dengue and Chikungunya will save lives and avoid serious illnesses and deformities. This development indicates a key step in a decline and possible elimination of the yellow fever mosquito on a world wide level.
