Rudman's city: Forget frigates, it's time to blitz Aussie ankle-biters

While the geriatric generals try to scare us into an arms race with their tales of bogeymen lurking just over the horizon, a real enemy has already landed and has Auckland surrounded.

And do the Wellington bureaucrats care? Well, you have to wonder.

Nearly three months after the voracious, blood-sucking Aussie southern saltmarsh mosquito was first discovered in the Kaipara Harbour, no defence mechanism has been put in place. Indeed we still don't know the strength of the enemy.

So much for the Ministry of Health's fighting words on February 27, nine days after the find.

Then it was promising to present a plan of action to the Government "within 10 days." Two months on we are still waiting.

The ministry now says it is preparing a cabinet paper outlining options that will go to the Government by the end of this month.

Then we will have to wait while the politicians agonise over the cost. Meanwhile the unwelcome Aussie sheilas (for this is woman's work) continue to suck our blood.

This beastie is more than just a right pain in the ankle - it is a Class A health hazard.

It is a potential carrier of the debilitating Ross River virus, which causes aches, fever, chills, headache, tiredness and depression. Many patients have problems that persist for months or even years.

None of the invading mozzies has been found to carry the disease, but with more than 100 people a year being treated in New Zealand after catching the virus overseas, it is surely only a matter of time before carrier and disease meet up.

When that happens, the consequences for Auckland could be awful.

A Health Department paper prepared after the invader was first discovered in Napier in December 1998, estimates that an initial epidemic in Auckland among people with no natural resistance could infect 120,000 people and present a health bill of $100 million.

Further outbreaks could cost another $44 million every three to five years.

Following the Napier discovery, the Government approved a $9.6 million, four-year eradication scheme. Spraying programmes were subsequently launched in Muriwai in Gisborne and Porongahau in central Hawkes Bay.

With none of the invaders having been found in Napier for a year now, word is the ministry is poised to declare a victory there. Elsewhere in the country the emphasis has gone on searching saltmarshes for signs of the insect.

Auckland health district staff found them just north of Auckland on the southern side of the Kaipara Harbour in February.

Their Northland counterparts found them in their part of the harbour seven weeks later.

Soon after, further infestations were discovered nearby in the east coast holiday resort of Mangawhai.

Ministry of Health officials refuse to discuss their game plan, except for a spokeswoman saying every saltmarsh is being probed.

Certainly a lot of time has been spent in the Kaipara. A press statement from Auckland medical officer of health Dr Virginia Hope recently announced that the invaders had been discovered at more than 37 sites on that harbour.

But what about the Manukau and Waitemata Harbours? I'm told they are both clear - so far.

A big question is how the pests appeared in both Napier and the Kaipara.

After their discovery in Napier, the theory was they arrived by sea via the Port of Napier and then spread by hitch-hiking on planes and ship containers.

This theory was found wanting last November when the invaders turned up in Porongahau, 85km south of the nearest Hawkes Bay infestation and far from a port or airport. Wind drift is a possibility.

If they travelled up the coast from Napier to Mangawhai then across land to Kaipara, you would expect some evidence of infestation along the way. None has been announced.

This leaves the possibility of two separate invasions.

Non-ministry experts tell me this a better option as far as eradication is concerned. It means the problem is restricted to two lowly-populated areas.

The successful elimination of the white-spotted tussock moth from Auckland's eastern suburbs in 1996-97 and the Napier victory against these mozzies shows we can do it. So let's get on with it.

Every day Wellington dithers, the more likely these beasties will be at your ankles and mine.