WAR ON THE MOSQUITO

Marlborough Express, Volume LIII, Issue 274, 21 November 1919, Page 4

WAR ON THE MOSQUITO

THE NEW ZEALANDERS' EXPERIENCES.

Discussing the experiences of the New Zealanders in tlie Holy Land afe Auckland on Sunday,' Major-General Sir Edward Chaytor, expressed deep admiration for the achievements q£ the military medical department m protecting the troops from the ravages of the diseases which have attended all previous wars. _The system of inoculation against ente.no fever and cholera proved thoroughly; effective, but the medical triumph that struck him most forcibly was the conquest of malaria. In Palestine, as elsewhere, this result- was attained by incessant operations upon the breeding places of the mosquito.' These operations were under the, direction of Lieutenant - Colonel Hereus, of the New Zealand Medical Corps, and Lieutenant - Colonel Harvey Sutton, of the Australian. Medical Corps.-; In the Jordan' Valley, the mosqtiitos swarmed at the time of the arrival of the Britishi ndlitary forces, «nd wherever found! they were attacked. The bed of the river was channelled out in suck a, way as to contract the stream within moderate limits,, and prevent the accumulation of stagnant water. Then, wherever pools were formed they were either filled in or attacked with oil-— generally there, was ;i. combination or the two processes—and the places were inspected every day. Even where the footprints of horses made deep impressions in the damp soil they vere filled up with sand and sorinkled • with oil, and all such indents were.kept under regular inspection. The result Avas that all the camping places of the Anzac corps were kept free from the pest, and r alaria v.'.as practically non-existeniJ in the force. ' : , ■