Barbados and The Rise of Mosquitoes In The Caribbean (Transcript)
How We Got Here
Before the 1490’s, the Indigenous people of the Caribbean- the Kalinagos, Tainos, Ciguayo, among others, were noted for their relationship with the natural environment. To them, “the land was a breathing being on which we move, and have our being”. As such, great care was taken to preserve it and treat it with the upmost respect as the repercussions had dire consequences. Across the region, environmental consciousness was practice - something that’s indigenous communities today, still uphold. But like all of the region’s problems, this environmental awareness went completely left when in October 1492, Christopher Columbus and company, docked on the shores of the islands of The Bahamas. In his decade of colonial exploration, other Caribbean countries became occupied by Europeans colonisers. Slavery, as well as diseases brought by the Europeans to the region, orchestrated a near genocide of the indigenous population of the Caribbean. Needing labour, colonisers of the region, decided to follow in the footsteps in the Portugal. Portugal was the first nation to begin the enslavement of Africans for colonial capitalism. From as early as 1444, the Portuguese arrived on the shores of Senegal with the intention to capture Black people. Soon after, they began a network that kickstarted the Atlantic-Slave Trade. In fact, by the 1600’s, their dominance was so vast that the other nations would engaged in wars with Portugal for their access to enslaved Africans. When the English, Dutch and French would captured Portuguese ships during maritime wars, they often found enslaved Africans and sent them to work in their own colonies.By 1642, however Portugal and England signed a treaty, opening Portugal slave operation on the African coast, to English persons involve in the slave trade. Immediately, English slave ships started showing up in the region. And on these slave ships were not only thousands of enslaved Africans but also a few mosquitoes. Here Comes Trouble
The mosquitoes that flew off the ships were known as A. Aegypti’s; and unlike other species, they prefer to breed in water vessels than swamps or puddles. As such, wells, barrels, buckets and pots, are perfect habitats for them. It is why they survived on slave ships which were full with barrels of water. Their eggs can survive for several weeks in dry conditions if needed. And once the containers are filled with water, the eggs hatched shortly after. This is why the Caribbean was the ideal climate for these mosquitoes to thrive. Once the rainy season arrived after bouts of drought condition, mosquitoes came after. Furthermore, these mosquitoes used sight and chemical sensors to source blood. These seniors work better in humid, warm air where the mosquitoes are attracted to ammonia and lactic acid found in human sweat. It is why men are more bitten by children and women, as men are more likely to sweat more. A. Aegypti, like sweet juices and as such, the rise of sugar plantations led to sugar juices becoming easier to find which prolong mosquitoes lives and giving them more energy to fly from place to place, And in a region of slave labour to create sugar, all of these conditions were just the perfect place for this breed of mosquitoes. But one island in particular was just too perfect - Barbados. Barbados
In the late 1620’s, during the period of sugar cane replacing tobacco as the region’s most dominant crop, Barbados was the first island to take to sugar cane cultivation. In 1630, the island had a population of 1,400 persons and by 1642, it was 40,000. Not only did the population growth occurred as a result of the sugar industry, ecological change followed. Unlike the other Caribbean island, Barbados only had a few streams and rivers above ground. A large portion of their freshwater is source underground. And so, to counteract the lacked of freshwater, European colonisers built watering holes and water towers across the island to catch rainwater. Cisterns, rain barrels, pots and pans were also created to support the growing population of enslaved Black communities and white slave owners. But even more ecological transformation happened. In the 1620’s, Barbados was largely uninhabited and densely forested. As Sir Henry Colt wrote in 1631: “The whole island is soe full of wood and trees, as I could not finde any place where to train 40 musketteers”
But as sugar cane industry became even more dominant, the forest was cleared for more plantations to be built as well as to provide fuel. As one person noted in 1671,“… at the Barbadoes all the tress are destroyed, so that wanting wood to Boyle their sugar, they are forced to send for coles from England”.
With trees been removed, weeds multiply all over the island. Invasive specials, like rats and the like, became even more abundant while native birds disappeared. Soil erosion became a problem which cause gullies to grew in numbers. As environmental historian, John Robert McNeil, states: “One downpour in November 1668 opened a gully in the churchyard of Christ Church parish that carried 1500 coffins and their contents out to sea”.
As gullies forms, silt carried to the coastland created new marshes; and when horses had difficulty trodding the erosive and steep land, donkeys and even camels were brought in. Soil erosion also drove down productivity of the soil so even more enslaved black people were brought to work the Bajan sugar plantations. Now remember those perfect conditions needs for the A. Aegypti mosquitoes to thrive? Well, in 1647, Barbados would learn just how perfect these conditions are. Yellow Fever
Come late 1647, a yellow fever epidemic broke out in Barbados. As one manuscript of the event says, “In the year 1647, there was a great Plague in Barbados, which raged violently especially at Saint Micheals or the Indian Bridg, it swept away abundance of people…”
Even though a significant number of Black enslaved men working on the plantation fields fell victims, many Africans had already survived the virus. As such, a large portion of the victims were European colonisers. In victims that survive the illness, they experience high fever, muscle pains, headaches, nausea and dizziness. The symptoms usually last three to four days. In some cases, the persons have jaundice and internal haemorrhage. The presence of jaundice gave rise to the virus name. But in patients who succumb to the diseases, the ooze blood through the nose and ears, suffer delirium and expel a coffee coloured vomit. To this Spanish refers to virus as a “black vomit”. After the vomiting, coma and death usually follows. Another ecological change that propelled yellow fever was the rapid monkey migration to the Caribbean. Monkeys arrived to the region via slave ships between 1640 to 1690 - specifically, the green monkeys. They initially found home in the woodland of the countries where the only predators were dogs and humans. But as these forestry areas were cleared for sugar plantation, the moneys eventually found their way to the plantation for home and food. This brought them in proximity to humans where the monkeys were also host of the yellow fever virus. The practice of keeping these moneys as pets also brought them in even more closer to humans for the virus to be transferred.As the epidemic took over Barbados and thousands of white persons died, Black persons were brought into replaced them. The mosquito diseases outbreak also made the island less attractive to British emigrants and so by the 1660’s, Barbados was the first black slave society in the British West Indians. The slave code established in Barbados was then adopted to Jamaica, Trinidad, other Caribbean countries as well as the US states of South Carolina and Virgina. And like the slave code, mosquitoes and yellow fever spread from Barbados to other areas. So as slavery speed throughout the region, mosquitoes follow. And when more Africans were brought in to work on the plantation, more mosquitoes crossed the ocean to the Caribbean. It was a perfect cycle - so perfect that from the 1650s to the 1900, mosquitos and yellow fever wreck the region. As one person noted in a diary entry in the 1800’s after a period of rainfall: “such an abundance of mosquitoes resulted… that all the walls of the houses… appeared black”.
Then, in 1881, the Cuban physician, Carlos J. Finlay correctly theorised that yellow fever was transmitted by mosquitoes. His contribution to curbing the disease is largely uncelebrated as the discovery has widely been attributed to the US Military. But, let us clarify, it was not until 1900 that the US Military set up the Yellow Fever Commission, who soon after stated that the disease was transmitted via mosquitoes bites. Cuba, who would be under US Military occupation soon after, would see one of the first national policies to curb the breeding of mosquitoes. As such, the commission began to set up mosquito control programs all over the island. This includes improving sanitation, widespread use of insecticides, reduction in the standing water areas that allow for mosquitos breeding and publishing facts about mosquitoes in local newspapers. By March 1901, marshall law was implemented in the country to further curb the cases. Persons were classified as either non-immune, because they had no medical history of yellow fever; or immune, because they had a past history of yellow fever. Soon after, the number of cases in Cuba fell drastically. In nearby Panama, however, the turn of the century saw mosquitoes rage havoc. In 1880’s, a major outbreak of yellow fever prevented the French from building the canal. Over 22,000 workers died during that period, many of them from malaria and yellow fever. A great number of these deaths were West Indians, who fell victim to the racist believe that West Indians were immune from yellow fever. Thus, when the US took over the project in 1904, yellow fever and now malaria, were a concern. By 1906, it was reported that roughly 85% of canal workers were hospitalised with either of these two diseases. To control the epidemic, Dr William Gorgas, who worked on Cuba’s epidemic prior, received funding from the US to continue controlling efforts in Cuba. In the summer of 1905, private homes began to be sprayed with insecticide and oil was placed on standing water to prevent mosquito breeding. By October, cases were cut in half and almost a year later, the epidemic was over. By the 1940’s, a vaccine for yellow fever was developed where today, yellow fever is more or less, under control. But that is just one of the mosquito diseases. These mosquitoes, brought to the region due to colonialism, have only adopted and evolved, thus spreading other strain of viruses. According to the National Institute of Health, between 2013 and 2019, 186,050 cases of dengue, 911,842 cases of chikungunya, and 143,127 cases of Zika were reported in the Caribbean. Furthermore, in 2023, a year where the effects of climate change was blatantly witnessed and experienced, many Caribbean countries announced a dengue outbreak. For example, by early November, Jamaica health authorities announced that 3,147 suspected, presumed and confirmed dengue cases were on the island. Inconsideration and Stupidity
Still, the mosquito situation is just one of the few issues, that came out of the ecological changes due to colonialism in the region. In the wake of climate change effects on the island, many countries have turned to using tree planting as a mitigation policy. But this widespread deforestation of the region, colonialism played a major role. In Montserrat, for example, the island was a widely forested area in 1631. By 1676, a third of the forested area was cleared for sugar production. By the 1770’s, the island was almost devoid of woodlands. In recent years, the country has implemented a yearly national tree planting initiative. As the then Plant Nursery and Agro Forestry Supervisor, Jervaine Greenaway, stated in 2011: “There are not much fruit trees around so we are trying to get as much trees back into the environment… We are doing our part to cut down on greenhouse gases and just beautify the whole of Montserrat”
But it was just not Montserrat who had these severe situations. By 1791, the environmental effects of colonialism was so severe in the eastern Caribbean, that Alexander Anderson, a supervisor at St Vincent Botanical Gardens, wrote to Sir George Yonge, saying: “It is a matter of astonishment to see the inconsideration or rather stupidity of West Indian planters, in extinguishing many useful woods that spontaneously grow on all these islands except in this St Vincent and Dominica, hardly the vantage of a tree is to be seen of any sort, where the planters’ axe could get at. Barbados, Antigua, St. Kitts are almost rendered unfit for cultivation by the destruction of wood….”
The clearing of forestry was not only for sugar plantation but as academic J.R.McNeil stated in his book, “Mosquitoes Empires: Ecology and War in the Greater Caribbean, 1620–1914”“They tried to recreate the open vistas of the British Isles for aesthetic reasons. They needed room for their livestock to Roma”
Then on larger countries like Jamaica and Cuba, with maroon plantation who seek freedom in the mountain forest of these nations, slave owners seek retribution by cutting and burning these forested areas. The ecological effects then when beyond the land. Indigenous animals also felt the effects of colonialism. As Dr McNeil made noted, the green turtle was abundant in the Caribbean. But, soon after the English came to the region, they started to feed enslaved Africans salted turtle meat as it was affordable and easy to catch. In fact, between 1700 to 1730, most of the meat eaten in Jamaica was turtle. Soon after, the meat was seen as a delicacy in England where it was tooted for its aphrodisiac qualities. By the 1800’s, the green turtle population of the region decreased immensely. In 2011, zoologist at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Dr Bryon Wilson, stated: “As turtles were once abundant in Jamaican waters and the island's beaches hosted huge nesting populations of the spectacular and prehistoric creatures. But centuries of over-exploitation — mostly during the 1600s to 1800s — decimated regional populations. Recent estimates suggest that Caribbean stocks of Green and Hawksbill sea turtles — formerly the most abundant species — have been reduced by 99.7 per cent. Today, both species are ecologically and functionally extinct.”
Then remember those monkey we spoke of earlier brought to region? Well, by 1680’s, the vervet monkeys became a notorious pests on Barbados and St Kitts and Nevis. The monkey situation has gotten so bad in St Kitts and Nevis, that in recent years, the nation had to create a Monkey Task Force to curb the issue. Monkeys were raiding farms, vandalising properties and harassing livestock and household pets. Then in December 2020, the economy burden took a turn for the absolute worse, that the government proposed shooting monkeys in Newton Ground to Belmont Mountain to curb the area’s monkey population. In a press release, the government stated that on Dec 3, 2020: “All farmers in these areas are asked if they are not attending the Monkey control meeting are also asked to stay away from their farms during this period.”
Most recently in 2021, the St. Kitts agriculture authorities was allowed to sell monkey meat to make dog food as an effort to control the monkey population. In the past, the monkeys were exported to US to the serve as as test subjects for drug creation. A viral Twitter thread on the issue by Davey, writer of our Lest We Forget Podcast, led to The Yaad’s deep dive of the green money situation on St Kitts. For more information on this, checkout our Checkmate Political Podcast where Davey spoke to Dr. Kerry Dore, an ethnoprimatology expert who is the national co-ordinator of the St. Kitts and Nevis Invasive Species Project. Yet, there are so many more ecological issues that we can speak about that have their origins due to colonisation. But as climate change continue to affect the region, it is important that has persons who live here, interest lies here, and identity are created in the Caribbean region, we understand how deep the roots of colonialism are intertwined with our current problems. Still, similar to one of our other podcast episodes, “The Salt Plantations of the Caribbean”, we should have called this episode, “Mosquitoes: Colonialism and its Effects”. So the next time you swat a mosquito, you can definitely blame climate change, government neglect, poor urban planning and in some cases, your fellow countrymen. But remember to also blame colonisation.