Where they bite all day long

NST: It’s usually at dusk and dawn that the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes bite. But in Singapore, they bite throughout the day.
Furthermore, Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said he was also told by the Singapore Health Minister that aedes mosquito breeding grounds had been found even on the 20th floor of buildings.
"Singapore is concerned over its increasing number of dengue cases and deaths. I was told many of the victims are foreigners. It is unlike Malaysia, where almost all the victims are Malaysians," Dr Chua said at a Press conference in his office today.
According to ministry officials, mosquitoes in Singapore bite throughout the day because street lights are on all day.
In Malaysia, they said, the mosquitoes do bite during the day but are more active at dusk and dawn.
Aedes mosquitoes found on the high floors of tall buildings, they suggested, could have been carried up in lifts.
"We have also found aedes mosquitoes breeding in some of our high-rise buildings but it’s usually on the fourth or fifth floors."
Dr Chua said public co-operation was vital in averting an outbreak.
Between Jan 1 and Sept 24, the ministry had checked 2.3 million premises, of which 23,173 were found to be breeding aedes. A total of 39.6 million houses were fogged and 1,562 gotong- royong clean-ups carried out.
Dr Chua said 6,635 people were slapped with notices for breeding aedes mosquitoes and owners of 12,295 premises ordered to pay compound fines.
He said 54 people had been taken to court in Selangor, Terengganu and Malacca. Seven premises were issued with stop-work orders — five in Selangor and two in Kuala Lumpur.