The Wilmington morning star., 1947-03-02
1ARINES ATTACK
MALARIA PROBLEM
.n,nt Keep EN- Flying Is
sIoean o. Cherry Point
Leathernecks

LcdtLlCI liC\hS
! FpIroR's NOTE: This is
: .o4ber in a series of articles
l.;t4en for and donated to the
ss,.rrent Good Health Cam
s.ian by North Cardinals
psa5ino feature writer's.
81 GERTRUDE cARRAwAY
B, ~ North Carolina can accom-
~ N~ miracles in the way of i'm,
?@'a ring healthful conditions
.,ohout its boundaries, if sutfl-
1a-V49 fnnds and trained personnel
SsD' orovided, is provided by the
IT. ts.-snding records in "osguito
a Malaria control made during
". y. nast five years by public health
~ '.4orities and Navy officers at
Marine air station at Cherry
a' " in Craven County.
f' "Don't keep EN- flying was
seemingly paradoxical slogan
Ms,.d at the air station in refer
,s,, 10 the millions of mosquitoes
s ~r| in the low coastal area
l .ssn Navy health experts began
VIC 1911 their difficult but finally
l.,aossful task Of eradicating the
.sIaria mosquitoes.
: .be most extensive drainage
,.aisct every undertaken in the
Pe';nitv under the direction of
rrsrst+ ]. Olenick, Lieutenant,
IIsJical Corps, United States Ma
Vt and with the aid and coopera.
", Of Federal and State Health
'Mcials. many miles of bitches
NV. blasted 10 drain the swampy
+ 'ramds and clear the former
wedding haunts of malaria mos
qaitOes.
=. anopheles quadrimaculatus,
.s notwithstanding breed. No spe-
,~c effort was made to rid the
ID Of pest mosquitoes. for, though
,,Yoying and pesky, they are not
sspgerous or deadly.
From research Investigations Of
,,,red malariologists, it was
'.ovn that it would be impossible
md Intellectual TO try to destroy
.p mosquitoes simply by catch,
h. swatting or otherwise killing
n the adults. Others would come
TOO quickly.
II was realized by Lieutenant
oenick and his $50 assistants that
here are three links which have
m be broken for permanent re-
,lts, The seed, or sick, persons.
Ar whom screens and treatments
have TO be devised: the sower, or
malaria mosquitoes. which carry
NE germs Of the disease: and the
\ nj, or the individuals who might
lt The germs.
Planting his attack to break all
these links but to aim chiefly al
.e main source and causes Of Tie
rcuole. Dr.. Olenick concentrated
most attention on the weakest paIJ
9. the second link-the larval stage
II the mosquito,
His studies had taught him that
malaria mosquito eggs are laid on
the shore near water or on still
fresh water exposed to the sun,
specially if it has floating vegeta-
Ton. 1t was fairly easy to FIND
such places, after fighting through
te jungle-like underground along
tie CUTS and swamps of the II, 155
Mre reservation.
Two methods of destroying the
larvae we're used effectively. One
vas to pour an oil mixture, made
from fuel oil and waste truck oil,
N the breeding places. Ibis oil
has a toxic quality and kills the
larvae. But the treatment had to
be repeated frequently, for COM
pete results.
The other method Of destroying
larvae was to dredge and fill in
tie breeding places Or to dram
them Of stagnant water. Three
ta3Iines were used to dram low
Ind, and d floating hydraulic
aedge was Utilized for months to
III in breeding sites. Tons OF dya-
mite were exploded to- blast olt
new bitches, in order to permit
sanding water to flow down 10 the
larger creeks and to Neuse River.
A speCially-designed boat was
made, 10 feet long and eight ieet
vide. required a draft of only 10
% L inches Of water, TO traverse
ae smaller creeks and spray their
'slks' Airplane sprays, often used
satisfactorily elsewhere, could not
's adapted for the al station, be
cause Of its original dense vegeta-
Ton.
Al once a marked decline in the
lumber Of all types of malaria
'na the almost complete extlnc-
ION Of malaria mosquitoes were
leported by Ensign o. B. Cope.
.SNR, an entomologist assigned
W me task. During the Fall Of
wv When thousands of Marines
we're beng trained at Cherry Point
al area that previously had
wen filled with malarial germs,
D' a single case Of malaria was
.pOF!eo among the military per
oaneI.
Nmllar successful methods were
'AP-oyed al the Marine reserva-
Dr. a. othlp LeJeune along New
~|eI IN OnsIow County. Nava4
~ Marine authorities there hao
I Nv Nv. realized that if employees OF
, %e.-aeS had contracted the de-
~ '~ disease, the work at the
"A d Inc base would be serious
nanpered, with even more
, ,a5le results if aviators or infan-
~ WI had suffered malaria chills
'']Ie on regular duty.
/ Iuch malaria control work
,5 somewhat similar lines has
n. NV 0een accomplished through
W. North Carolina since 1898 when
~ oldt0 Department of Health