Growing swarms of mosquitos on Türkiye's southern coast continue to torment locals despite experts' reassurance that the buzzing biters pose no serious health threat to those trying to enjoy the summer in the country’s tourism gem Antalya.
Facing “the invasion of mosquitos” and the lack of sleep caused by the insects' heightened nocturnal activity, aggravated citizens took to social media to express their frustration with the current situation.
According to the reports compiled by Sabah newspaper, the citizens complain of a lack of action from Antalya Metropolitan Municipality to contain the growing threat of mosquitoes, blaming it for insufficient pesticide use.
In the city, where tens of thousands of complaints about mosquitoes are filed every day, experts referring to the municipality said: "They did not fight against mosquitoes because the fight against mosquitoes should start in December. They had to clean manholes, stream beds and puddles. More precisely, they had to work. They had to take precautions before the bugs even hatched, but unfortunately, the metropolitan municipality failed in this regard, as in every other field. Unfortunately, we are now afraid of the spread of epidemics."
However, professor Hüseyin Çetin from the Biology department of Akdeniz University’s Faculty of Science speaking to Ihlas News Agency (IHA) last week attributed the appearance of mosquitoes to weather conditions and said that climate change creates a suitable environment for mosquitoes.
“During the winter months, most of the flies would die due to unfavorable environmental conditions in the places they are hiding. The hot weather this winter and the rainy summer months created the environments that the flies wanted. Normally, we had a breed that was kept under pressure by spraying. However, after the excessive rain saturated the soil, a huge breeding area was formed,” Çetin explained.
“Thus, there is an increase in the population now,” he said.
Mosquitoes, which hide during the winter months and perish due to the extreme cold, managed to survive this winter as the weather did not get too cold. At the same time despite the continued appliance of pesticides in numerous municipalities across the country, repetitive rains reduced their effects, the experts underlined.
“Under normal conditions, we were supposed to have a dry period with a temperature above 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) in a city like Antalya, but we are still experiencing rainy weather hovering at around 20-25 degrees. This is a very ideal environment for mosquitoes,” Çetin explained.
Noting that the Ochlerotatus mosquito species, which are treated with pesticides in Antalya's Manavgat and Serik districts, spread over a wide area together with the rains, Çetin said that they are often concentrated among the blackberry bushes in the areas where the water had accumulated.
"These flies were normally suppressed by spraying, but after heavy rainfall saturated the soil, a huge breeding ground was created. They also spawn in these areas. Its population is currently increasing. The rain also washed away the pesticides sprayed by municipalities to eliminate these breeding places. Ochlerotatus was partially seen in our area. However, with the effect of this last rain, the area of its prevalence has increased, unfortunately," Çetin explained.
Pointing out the possibility that mosquitos can be suppressed again in the upcoming weeks, Çetin urged citizens to remove buckets filled with water in places such as balconies and rooftops, since the insects love stagnant water.
“If there are mosquito complaints, when they remove the stagnant water, the problem will disappear within a few days,” he claimed.
