Vermin – Rats and Mice

The commonly known rat and mouse species introduced to Australia are the Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus), the Roof Rat (Rattus rattus) and the House Mouse (Mus musculus).

These animals are well adapted to living in close proximity to humans, sharing their food, water and shelter –

  • Property owners and occupiers have an obligation to ensure their house and land does not provide harbourage or become a breeding ground for rats and mice.
  • The most effective way to reduce vermin numbers is to remove their food source and remove or monitor potential harbourage areas.
  • If you experience vermin problems on your property, Council recommends that you engage the services of a licensed pest management technician
  • Complaints regarding vermin harbourage or breeding on a neighbouring property can be lodged with Council’s Environmental Health Department.

 

Mosquito Vector Control

There are more than 220 species of mosquitoes in Queensland.

Despite their reputation of being harmful to humans, many of these species are categorised as nuisance mosquitoes and do not have an ability to transmit infectious diseases.

Douglas Shire Council does not implement any programs for the management of nuisance mosquitoes.

The focus of mosquito control within the Douglas Shire is to monitor and control mosquito vector species such as the Aedes Aegypti which have the ability to transmit infectious diseases to humans such as Dengue Fever Virus, Zika Virus and Chikungunya Virus (Vectors are living organisms that can transmit infectious diseases between humans, or from animals to humans).

Vector control activities are conducted as a part of Council’s Environmental Health Officers core duties and involve the following –

  • Responding to complaints relating to breeding grounds for mosquito vectors (e.g.- untreated swimming pools, buckets & pot plant bases, tyres, bird baths, blocked roof gutters, etc).
  • Appropriate enforcement under the Public Health Act 2005 when breeding grounds for mosquito vectors have been identified and the property owner has failed to effectively treat or remove the breeding grounds.
  • Intermittent treatment of public amenities and facilities to minimise the potential harbourage of the vector mosquitos.
  • Monitoring activities.
  • Assistance with Queensland Health during outbreaks of vector borne diseases such as Dengue Fever and Zika virus.

 

Dengue Fever

DENGUE FEVER FACTS

Eliminate Dengue

Eliminate Dengue is an international research program developing a new and natural approach to control the spread of dengue fever.  Read more at www.eliminatedengue.com.