Gwanak District Strengthens Mosquito Control and Prevention Campaigns in 21 Neighborhoods

42 Volunteer Members to Remain Active Through October

On July 26, the Gwanak District Office in Seoul (headed by District Mayor Park Junhee) announced that it would expand mosquito disinfection measures and campaigns to promote prevention guidelines across all 21 neighborhoods in the district, following the nationwide malaria advisory issued by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

This year, the Gwanak District quarantine task force is conducting disinfection activities. Provided by Gwanak District.

The district operates a public health center disinfection task force year-round, conducting spray disinfection at least once a week, focusing on mosquito breeding grounds and areas vulnerable to disease. Currently, 57 disinfection devices are in operation, including mosquito traps, digital mosquito monitors, and repellent sprayers.

Resident participation monitoring activities also take place in parallel. Since May, the district has run the "Mosquito Disinfection Volunteer Group" consisting of 42 members—two people from each of the 21 neighborhoods—with activities scheduled through October this year. Each team inspects mosquito hotspots and vulnerable habitats such as puddles at least once a month and reports locations where large numbers of mosquitoes are detected to the public health center's disinfection task force.

The district has urged residents to follow malaria prevention guidelines, including wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants in light colors while outdoors, using mosquito repellent, keeping screens in good condition, and using mosquito nets. In addition, they recommend that anyone who has engaged in nighttime activities in malaria outbreak regions and experiences fever, chills, or headache, get tested at a health center or medical institution.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency issued a malaria advisory nationwide on June 22, as the density of vector mosquitoes met the criteria for such a warning. An advisory is issued when there are three or more cities, counties, or districts where the average daily mosquito index is 0.5 or higher. As of epidemiological week 24 this year, there have been 74 malaria cases in Korea—a 45.6% decrease compared to the same period last year (136 cases). Epidemiological investigations identified the main likely infection areas as Paju, Yeoncheon, Gimpo, and Ilsanseo-gu in Gyeonggi Province, as well as Ganghwa County in Incheon.

District Mayor Park Junhee stated, "In order to ensure the safety of Gwanak residents from mosquito-borne infectious diseases such as malaria during the summer, creating a dense preventive network and taking comprehensive, proactive measures are most critical. We will continue to operate a monitoring system at all times to protect the daily lives of residents and do our utmost to make Gwanak a safe district where everyone can enjoy a healthy and worry-free summer."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.