Sarawak Tribune
Published in the Sarawak Tribune - Jun 19, 2004
A new way to protect children, homes and premises from harmful mosquitoes
Ignore this and you could be missing the opportunity of a life time to finally get rid of pesky mosquitoes and various diseases that they may be carrying. Young children and babies are particularly at risk as they are generally easier targets for the mosquitoes either in the house or when outside. Now, there is a new revolutionary mosquito trap made in New Zealand and internationally recognized as one of the best, a new device to trap and kill mosquitoes effectively while environmentally friendly.
"Mega-Catch mosquito traps have been tested extensively worldwide and the reviews and comparison have been very positive," begins May Low, the device agent for Sarawak and Sabah in Malaysia. "Unlike other types of mosquito traps which rely on chemicals and electronic means to attract mosquitoes, Mega-Catch uses a range of visual stimuli to attract mosquitoes and can even be used against daytime Asian Tiger mosquitoes which are known to rely more on visual cues to find hosts.
In short, Mega-Catch is effective because it is quick and safe, simple to operate, sophisticated and hardy for indoor and outdoor applications and comes with a programmable timer," she adds.Mega-Catch consists of a black plastic box (38cm by 25cm) that radiates heat and an array of glittering lights that attract mosquitoes and once near enough, the hapless insects are sucked in through the slots on the sides by a fan into a pool of water or into a bag provided for the purpose.
Incidentally, Mega-Catch only captures mosquitoes and sandflies while bigger ones like butterflies and ladybirds are spared and as no chemicals are used. It can be safely put in any location inside the home or hostel, at poolside or medical wards and animal or poultry farms. According to the various studies carried out by independent testers, Mega-Catch has an effective range of up to 1 1/2 acres in all directions and is a low maintenance machine.
"In various tests carried out in different locations around the world, including here in Malaysia, the mosquito count inside the bag range from 1200 within four hours to 44490 over 12 nights in Queensland, Australia earlier this year," informs May who has been monitoring the tests on the manufacturer's website (www.megacatch.com). In that test in Australia, the device was put side by side with another model of mosquito trap sold by another brand. Dr Scott Ritchie in his report stated, "In comparing these traps, it is worth noting that the Mega-Catch Ultra out performed its rival on 10 of 12 nights.
The Mega-Catch was the best performed mosquito trap in this study. Its physical design and thermal attractants make it highly effective in catching mosquitoes."Locally, it is common to do fogging to kill mosquito infested areas and the main emphasis of this method is that it can only kills on contact and uses chemicals with a relatively high cost and yet the insects return soon after. By comparison, Mega-Catch captures and kills only mosquitoes and can be operated 24 hours a day with no harmful chemicals and at a much lower cost.
According to May, her company also rents the device on a long and short term basis. At home, most people either uses mosquito sprays or insecticides as well as coils and vaporizers to ward off the insects. All these devices employ chemicals which may be harmful and toxic and usually with unpleasant smell and could be a fire hazard too. They are more expensive over time than Mega-Catch as it does not require users to buy chemicals, emits no smell and hence does not affect the quality of life while environmentally friendly to us and other animals and insects. Hence Mega-Catch is safe and effective with low maintenance required. For more information on the product, contact May Low at Sarabah Trading, Tel: 082-418485/0128871991 or e-mail: lowah@streamyx.com