Black flies re-emerge in Bawku West District.

Zebilla (U/E), Dec 6, GNA - Black flies, known to be carriers of the vector that causes river blindness, have re-emerged in Widnaba community in the Bawku West District, giving cause for alarm. Mr. Atise Abire, a Community Development Rehabilitation Officer who said this at a forum organized by a consortium of NGOs in Zebilla last Wednesday, urged the Ministry of Health to move swiftly to contain the situation.

He said the black flies first appeared in the area in 1979 and caused blindness among a majority of the population and that if care was not taken the bitter experience of the past could be witnessed again. Mr. Abire appealed to the government to act in time by embarking on a mass spraying exercise.

He said agricultural activity which is the main occupation of the area's population was also under a serious threat unless the black fly was neutralized.