Move over mozzies
by Vincent Ciccarello
New
Zealanders apparently see no need for screens on their windows. And
why would they? Unlike other parts of the world, where diseases such
as malaria and Ross River virus pose a serious threat to public
health, there are no similar mosquito-borne disease risks in the
land of the long white cloud.
For Australian Dr Amy Snell (pictured), one of the people who knows most about mosquitoes in NZ, the absence of protection against flying nuisances was very noticeable.
"One of the main problems in New Zealand are ‘itchy bites’ from simulids commonly called sandflies. These bites can cause skin infections in children, such as cellulitis. In Australia, people have an awareness of mosquitoes and mosquito-borne disease, whereas in New Zealand they simply don’t," she said from her home outside Wellington, NZ.
Dr Snell was recently awarded her PhD in the identification and distribution of mosquitoes in NZ in the Department of Public Health at the Wellington School of Medicine (University of Otago), but her interest in mosquito research was fostered during her Bachelor of Environmental Toxicology honours year with Dr Michael Kokkinn at UniSA.
In working on her PhD, which links public health, biology and ecology, Dr Snell discovered little was known about mosquitoes in NZ.
"The basic biology of lots of species here is unknown," she said.
"We don’t know what species they feed on, if they can transmit
diseases, how far they can fly and their geographic distribution.
One of the species’ larvae was collected for the first time this
year."
It made for interesting, if occasionally frustrating, work.
"Basic ecological knowledge on species is needed before you can answer public health questions. If you don’t know what species you’re dealing with and they haven’t been identified, you can’t put in place measures to protect people and give them the correct advice."
Dr Snell is preparing a mosquito collection for the Museum of New Zealand, based on specimens she gathered during her research, and she is writing an atlas of the mosquitoes of NZ.
She is also a member of a team led by UniSA’s Dr Craig Williams preparing an atlas of mosquitoes in South Australia, and in association with Dr Ted Nye is investigating the morphology of Culex pervigilans on the sub-Antarctic islands in comparison with mainland New Zealand.
Currently, Dr Snell is an entomologist at NZBioSecure where her job involves the identification of mosquitoes from an eradication program and mosquito specimens collected at New Zealand’s border.