privateer
9th Mar 2007, 03:16
Slow news day from today's Sydney Morning Herald!!
Aussie mozzies cause cockpit chaos on NZ flight
Six potentially disease-carrying mosquitoes swarmed through the cockpit of a Christchurch-bound plane on Sunday, biting an Australian pilot before being destroyed.
Three mosquitoes were squashed before the flight from Brisbane landed at Christchurch International Airport and another three were destroyed after arrival in the hangar.
Authorities say the invading insects were intercepted so posed no risk to the public.
Public health officers have since laid mosquito traps at the airport's No. 1 hangar - water-filled tyre traps to catch larvae, and light and carbon dioxide traps to catch adults.
The exotic mosquitoes arrived on a Boeing 737 being flown to Christchurch for engineering work. No passengers were on board.
Medical officer of health Alistair Humphrey would not say which airline operated the plane.
The two species found by public health officers are both common in Australia - Aedes vigilax and Culex sitiens. Both can be carriers of the Ross River virus, which can cause fever. The latter may also infect bite victims with Murray Valley encephalitis, a potentially devastating brain disease.
Aussie mozzies cause cockpit chaos on NZ flight
Six potentially disease-carrying mosquitoes swarmed through the cockpit of a Christchurch-bound plane on Sunday, biting an Australian pilot before being destroyed.
Three mosquitoes were squashed before the flight from Brisbane landed at Christchurch International Airport and another three were destroyed after arrival in the hangar.
Authorities say the invading insects were intercepted so posed no risk to the public.
Public health officers have since laid mosquito traps at the airport's No. 1 hangar - water-filled tyre traps to catch larvae, and light and carbon dioxide traps to catch adults.
The exotic mosquitoes arrived on a Boeing 737 being flown to Christchurch for engineering work. No passengers were on board.
Medical officer of health Alistair Humphrey would not say which airline operated the plane.
The two species found by public health officers are both common in Australia - Aedes vigilax and Culex sitiens. Both can be carriers of the Ross River virus, which can cause fever. The latter may also infect bite victims with Murray Valley encephalitis, a potentially devastating brain disease.