Ahmedabad faces shortage of insect collectors amidst rising dengue cases

AHMEDABAD: The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is grappling with a surge in dengue cases while also dealing with past instances of the Chandipura virus and Congo fever. Capturing and studying insects is vital in combating viral infections transmitted by mosquitoes, flies, or other pests.
Surprisingly, the AMC has had four vacant insect collector positions for the past decade.The corporation is now establishing new recruitment rules to fill these roles, as it lacks defined educational qualifications, experience, and recruitment guidelines.
According to AMC sources, "There is no information on the types of mosquitoes, flies, or other pests found in the city. Currently, the health department of the AMC is catching mosquitoes to determine their density and identify the viruses they carry.
However, there is no effort to catch flies or other pests because there are no insect collectors employed by the AMC. Some employees perform insect collector duties based on their experience, but they are not officially designated as insect collectors."
The sources also state, "The corporation regularly catches mosquitoes from different areas of the city every week to identify their types and the viruses they carry.
This helps determine which areas have a higher number of disease-spreading mosquitoes. Efforts are also made to reduce mosquito breeding. Currently, it is dengue season, and from 1 August to 7 September 2024, there have been 860 cases of dengue reported in Ahmedabad.
Studying more insects can help in strategising to control outbreaks."
An anonymous official from the AMC's health department revealed, "There are four approved insect collector positions in the AMC's schedule, but they have been vacant for the past decade.
We have approached the central office to fill these positions. However, there are no records of previous insect collector recruitments, so we are working on establishing new recruitment rules and educational qualifications, with actions being taken by the central office."
The official emphasised the importance of having insect collectors, stating, "With the increase in mosquito nuisance, it is essential to catch insects to understand their density, types, and the diseases they spread.
Currently, our employees are catching mosquitoes and other insects, but they are not insect collectors. During the recent Chandipura cases, it was necessary to catch flies and identify which ones were virus carriers.
Therefore, having insect collectors is crucial, and we are making efforts to increase and fill these positions."