Maui students help
in dengue research

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Star-Bulletin staff

WAILUKU >> About 100 students are helping the state through a dengue fever-related science project that will count the number of mosquitoes in various parts of Maui County.

Lorrin Pang, state health administrator on Maui, said the counts will assist in developing a long-term strategy to manage the mosquito population on Molokai, Lanai and Maui.

Some 11 intermediate and high schools in the county are participating in the project.

Pang said that as part of their science project, students fill black jars with water containing a special hay mixture and egg collection paper to attract mosquitoes.

Each school chooses eight sites in various terrains in their community to place the jars.

The students collect the jars after three days, and the eggs are counted once the paper is dried.

The collection and counting procedure is repeated twice a month for a year.

A group of students from Kalama Intermediate School and Seabury Hall in Makawao demonstrated the procedure Tuesday.

Pang said the students are not being asked to put the jars in the "boondocks," but close to their homes and schools, where there is no more exposure to dengue fever than normal.

Pang said students from Lahainaluna High School are helping to plot the location of the jars through a global positioning system that communicates with a satellite.

He said mosquito control efforts have helped to stem the outbreak, and the last confirmed case of dengue fever in the state occurred 12 weeks ago.