Health officials say the mosquito capable of spreading malaria exists in Antigua and Barbuda, but remains extremely rare, as authorities continue heightened surveillance following two imported malaria cases.

The update was provided during a Ministry of Health press briefing focused on the country’s preparedness for emerging public health threats, including malaria and Ebola.

Acting Chief Health Inspector Darryl Spencer explained that while Antigua and Barbuda is home to 16 different mosquito species, the Anopheles mosquito, the species known to transmit malaria is the least common.

According to Spencer, the mosquito is typically not found in residential communities, but is more commonly associated with natural environments such as ponds near forested and wooded areas.

“There is an Anopheles species that lives in Antigua, and we generally surveil for this mosquito around ponds, in areas where they have ponds close to forested or wooded areas,” Spencer said.

He revealed that over the past two weeks, public health teams have expanded mosquito surveillance activities across the island as part of precautionary measures linked to the imported malaria cases.

The operations included dipping ponds to check for mosquito larvae, capturing live mosquitoes for identification, treating breeding sites where larvae were discovered, and fogging areas where adult Anopheles mosquitoes were detected.

“I will say that we have covered a lot of the ponds throughout Antigua,” Spencer stated. “We have treated ponds where we would have found larva. We would have fogged wherever we would have found any signs of the adult mosquito.”

Health officials continue to stress that there is currently no evidence of local malaria transmission in Antigua and Barbuda, but say monitoring and preventative measures remain ongoing to reduce any potential risk.