Northern Town Plagued by Flies
Khujand in northern Tajikistan is full of clouds of midges, some of them carrying tropical diseases.
Northern Town Plagued by Flies
Khujand in northern Tajikistan is full of clouds of midges, some of them carrying tropical diseases.
Reporter Kamari Ahrorzoda interviewed residents of the town who complain that there are more of the little flies than in earlier years. At night people hang nets around their beds, but there is no getting away from them in the daytime.
Some argue that lack of state funds makes it hard to keep the numbers down through spraying and other methods, but experts say one of the main reasons why there are more flies around is that urban residents are so careless about dumping rubbish.
Six of the insect species found here have been found to carry tropical diseases like malaria. From almost no cases of tropical disease shortly after the end of the Soviet Union, the number has risen to 4,300 last year.
Some argue that lack of state funds makes it hard to keep the numbers down through spraying and other methods, but experts say one of the main reasons why there are more flies around is that urban residents are so careless about dumping rubbish.
Six of the insect species found here have been found to carry tropical diseases like malaria. From almost no cases of tropical disease shortly after the end of the Soviet Union, the number has risen to 4,300 last year.
