When will we quit supporting the corrupt and unnecessary dam-building consortium, which creates the stagnant reservoirs that breed these mosquitos? If ever there was evidence that we need sustainable energy investment instead - micro hydro, solar, and wind - this is it.
2
There should be outrage and questions regarding the release of the multi millions of genetically modified, (GM) Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in April and July 2015 in Brazil that created this outbreak and prior to that in Malaysia, and before that secretly in the Cayman Islands by the British company Oxitec for profit and on the NYSE who may very well be responsible for this outbreak and its mutation. The GM Aedes aegypti mosquito was made with protein fragments inserted of E.coli, Herpes virus and cabbage. Male mosquitoes are not the only ones released and a small percentage of females are released too, the ones that can't be all separated. It's unknown what a bite from a GM mosquito can do to humans because it's all an experiment. Human consequences are completely unknown! Oxitec is funded by the Bill Gates Foundation on top of it. This is not a coincidence! These new symptoms, Zika virus rare before the release of GM mosquitoes? Tetracycline invalidates their dying and it can be gotten by mosquitoes from water and soil containing it. Oxitec in my opinion may be responsible for this and it's 'Crime Against Humanity.' Now Oxitec wants to release more to conquer this outbreak Zika virus to make more money? this has not been tested on humans people!
There is no way that this outbreak and epidemic in Brazil is coincidental
There is no way that this outbreak and epidemic in Brazil is coincidental
7
The list of deadly arboviruses (transmitted by insects like mosquitoes) is increasing with the emergence of Zika virus, a flavivirus. Efforts have to be concentrated on preventing exposure to mosquito and evacuating places with a high level of mosquitoes especially in the season when they multiply and seek their prey. Public health officials and non government agencies should distribute mosquito repellents, nets, aircrafts for sparing large inhabited areas where mosquitoes thrive especially in tropical regions of Brazil and other countries. A search for a vaccine specific against Zika virus should be launched. In the mean time mosquitoe bites can be washed with soap and a natural broad spectrum antiviral like pomegranate juice could be applied to the bite sites and also consumed in copious amounts as a prophylaxis. Although for travelers it would be best to avoid visiting 9+ countries declared by CDC as having Zika virus in South America, the Caribbean and Polynesia. For persons native to these places with the Zika virus there is an advisory to delay pregnancies. Being a flavivirus, protease inhibitors that could block the replication of the virus could be developed fairly soon to enable a multi pronged attack against Zika virus. It will be a long time before Zika is eradicated but for now there are several measures that could be considered to control its spread and minimize its impact.
2
One shoe bomber set all air travel into a checking frenzy.
Millions of travellers and trade to desease-carrying mosquito-inflicted countries do not seem to warrant any caution at the borders??
Millions of travellers and trade to desease-carrying mosquito-inflicted countries do not seem to warrant any caution at the borders??
8
Stop the Olympics. Kill the mosquitoes. Bring back DDT. And once at it, why not just stop people from moving anywhere? Not even to the nearest town. Make them stay put where they were born. That would solve plenty of other problems too. So much ignorance. So little imagination.
3
As someone who plans on having a child in the next few years, this is terrifying. Now more problems are coming from this virus. I will avoid all southern and central countries, but am now scared of all mosquitoes. Please make a vaccine for this asap!
6
There are many 'mysterious' illnesses, which are associated with chronic fatigue, muscle weakness, and neurological deficits. These include Guillain-Barre, Gulf War Syndrome, CFS, ME, Lyme disease and myasthenia gravis.
The common factor is reduced functioning of the acetylcholine NACH receptor. The immune system appears to be attempting to prevent cellular infection by desensitising, blockading or reducing the expression of this receptor. This is driven by the transcription factor, NF-kB. Presumably, the pathogens known to be associated with most of these illnesses use this receptor to enter cells.
Infection is not a prerequisite for this receptor dysfunction. If the NACHr is persistently activated (or deactivated) by environmental chemicals, the NF-kB driven immune response can be chronically activated by this route, also. An example is Gulf War Syndrome. Soldiers were given pyridostigmine bromide, to protect against nerve gas, their tents were sprayed with organophospate pesticides, and some had low level exposure to Sarin. All of these chemicals disrupt the NACHr.
In myasthenia gravis, the NACHr is blockaded by antibodies, causing fatigue and muscle weakness. The condition is treated with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, which increase available acetylcholine by inhibiting its degrading enzyme. These drugs are also used for early stage Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, as acetylcholine transmission failure is a cause of the eaerly symptoms.
The common factor is reduced functioning of the acetylcholine NACH receptor. The immune system appears to be attempting to prevent cellular infection by desensitising, blockading or reducing the expression of this receptor. This is driven by the transcription factor, NF-kB. Presumably, the pathogens known to be associated with most of these illnesses use this receptor to enter cells.
Infection is not a prerequisite for this receptor dysfunction. If the NACHr is persistently activated (or deactivated) by environmental chemicals, the NF-kB driven immune response can be chronically activated by this route, also. An example is Gulf War Syndrome. Soldiers were given pyridostigmine bromide, to protect against nerve gas, their tents were sprayed with organophospate pesticides, and some had low level exposure to Sarin. All of these chemicals disrupt the NACHr.
In myasthenia gravis, the NACHr is blockaded by antibodies, causing fatigue and muscle weakness. The condition is treated with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, which increase available acetylcholine by inhibiting its degrading enzyme. These drugs are also used for early stage Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, as acetylcholine transmission failure is a cause of the eaerly symptoms.
6
There have been clusters of childhood paralysis following a respiratory viral infection from enterovirus D68 (EV-D68), the most likely cause. Most children who are infected with EV-D68 quickly recover from this respiratory infection. However, some go on to suffer from a creeping paralysis. EV-D68 is related to the polio virus, they cause of the paralysis is unknown. The virus might trigger an autoimmune response that attacks the nervous system, or it might perhaps cause paralysis the same way polio virus does.
I'm not suggesting the paralysis from Zika and EV-D68 are related. For one thing, EV-D68 mediated paralysis has only been found in children, whereas Guillain-Barré has been associated with all kinds of infections, from flu to Zika, in adults.
I'm not suggesting the paralysis from Zika and EV-D68 are related. For one thing, EV-D68 mediated paralysis has only been found in children, whereas Guillain-Barré has been associated with all kinds of infections, from flu to Zika, in adults.
3
Genetically modified mosquitoes were released in numerous parts of Brazil April-July last year and experimenting on human populations secretly in many parts of the world since 2007 by a British company called Oxitex. I don't feel this is coincidental either. The consequences of this dangerous experimenting to humans is unknown and what numerous scholars familiar with it have feared could happen.
8
So why aren't we reading that there are efforts to eliminate the mosquitos that carry these viruses?
3
In the North of Brazil, 36 years ago, we would spray our bedding with those old fashioned handheld pumps with the can you fill up. The liquid came from a giant, rusty unlabeled barrel in out in the yard. There was a little tap, like on a beer keg. You'd fill up the can and pump out a mist over the bed after pulling the sheets back. Mosquito problem solved! And the liquid evaporating felt cool when you climbed in, which was nice.
I rejected the spray on the first night living with this family that took me in on my travels. I didn't make that mistake twice. I gladly sprayed every night from then on.
I'm not sure what that stuff was, but one reason for the proliferation of mosquitoes and related diseases, as well as bed bugs for that matter, is from the banning of DDT and other serious poisons, which did a really good job of keeping those pests at bay.
Choose your poison, nature has a way of snapping back hard.
I rejected the spray on the first night living with this family that took me in on my travels. I didn't make that mistake twice. I gladly sprayed every night from then on.
I'm not sure what that stuff was, but one reason for the proliferation of mosquitoes and related diseases, as well as bed bugs for that matter, is from the banning of DDT and other serious poisons, which did a really good job of keeping those pests at bay.
Choose your poison, nature has a way of snapping back hard.
2
For those against eradicating mosquitos due to their perceived place in the food chain, you might read this New Yorker piece. It seems to say the fallout on other animals is barely a blip.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/07/09/the-mosquito-solution
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/07/09/the-mosquito-solution
1
It may be time to consider totally eliminating mosquitos using crisper. The technology exists and we need to have a conversation about extinction of this insect.
10
As serious and harmful as this Zika virus is, I'd be more concerned about getting Lyme tick disease. There are at least 2 or 3 different, new types or strains of tick borne diseases, in part due to climate change. These newer diseases are spreading rapidly into northern areas that did not have them before.
In this age of rapid global transportation, we will have more invasive species and micro biological importations, some potentially harmful or lethal.
We won't have to travel to South America or Africa, they will come to us instead. We are unable to screen all incoming passengers and freight.
It's near to impossible to prevent this from happening.
In this age of rapid global transportation, we will have more invasive species and micro biological importations, some potentially harmful or lethal.
We won't have to travel to South America or Africa, they will come to us instead. We are unable to screen all incoming passengers and freight.
It's near to impossible to prevent this from happening.
25
Mosquito's get free rides on airplanes all the time. This is the time for all international airlines to take practical precautions to avoid transporting these Zika carrying mosquito's all over the world. We don't have to have another cataclysmic epidemic like Ebola, if the World Health Organization will finally take an appropriate lead in preventive Public Health policy and advise worldwide precautions against all mosquitos.
Dengue Fever, an awful disease, is a walk in the park compared to Gillian Barre Syndrome, an ascending paralysis, where the diaphragm may be paralyzed, leaving one unable to breathe. Let us now take action before it is too late for too many. So many countries are already affected in the Caribbean and South America. Does anyone really think these mosquitos will just stay put? This is a world-wide health crisis in the making. Get your heads out of the sand, NOW.
Dengue Fever, an awful disease, is a walk in the park compared to Gillian Barre Syndrome, an ascending paralysis, where the diaphragm may be paralyzed, leaving one unable to breathe. Let us now take action before it is too late for too many. So many countries are already affected in the Caribbean and South America. Does anyone really think these mosquitos will just stay put? This is a world-wide health crisis in the making. Get your heads out of the sand, NOW.
38
The public is completely ignorant of the massive toll of death and destruction wrought by this very same insect, Aedes Aegypti, in the US and around the world. Have none of you ever heard of Walter Reed? He was one of the stalwart, brave souls who fought this malevolent vector in his groundbreaking, focused and ultimately enormously successful campaigns against both the yellow fever virus and this same mosquito that acted as the deadly vector that spread the yellow death. It's time both for a quarantine and for wholesale mosquito eradication efforts.
1
Holy cow! Stop the Olympics! One case of Zika in the USA and our sensationalizing media puts the story on the front page and all over the TV. Do you remember the Ebola panic last year? Two cases in the USA resulted in weeks of panic and political madness. Please take a breath and divide 1 by 330 million. Ok, now double it. Notice that you still don't get a number. That explains the fundamental significance of Zika and Ebola in the lives of Americans. But hey, ya gotta make a buck, right NY Times? Also, let's think about this a minute. If the media clearly sensationalizes the Zika and Ebola stories, could they be doing the same thing with other subjects like global warming or the threat of terrorism? Hmmm.
4
Maybe when Republican politicians get hit with the Zika virus, they'll believe that global warming is real .... and that it involves more than just tsunamis, tornados, flooding and hurricanes. How much of a wake-up call do these people need?
10
Was global warming responsible for the yellow fever epidemic, also mosquito-borne? Memphis, TN was so depopulated due to that epidemic that it temporarily lost its charter. There is a burial trench at Elmwood Cemetery for yellow fever victims. We're not anywhere even approaching this for Zika (yet).
2
Republicans do not believe in science. Let Darwin had his way with them.
Tsunamis?? Maybe not tsunamis.
Time to bring back DDT.
8
Recommend you read "Spillover: animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic" by David Quamman. copyright in 2013. It is fascinating, well-written and well-researched. It covers dengue, Ebola, various avian flu strains.
11
DEET- It's the new black
17
The Olympics should be considering cancelling. This isn't some minor outbreak and exposing the athletes and audience when we know what is happening would be unbelievably irresponsible. If you were planning to go, I would urge you to reconsider.
37
Exposing the athletes and audience is a huge consideration.
Creating all of those potential vectors carrying Zika back to their home countries before there is a vaccine is another huge consideration.
Creating all of those potential vectors carrying Zika back to their home countries before there is a vaccine is another huge consideration.
5
What is even more irresponsible and disastrous is exposing the populations in the US to the disease when the infected athletes and audience members return home and are bitten by local mosquitoes.
3
I listened to a story about this virus on NPR and it was very frightening. Climat change is to blame for the spread of the mosquitoes; there is a severe long term drought in Northeast Brazil where the worst outbreak is happening. That means residents keep open containers of water in their homes for cooking, drinking and washing. The mosquitoes breed in these open pools of water.
Zika could rapidly spread around the world as travelers who were bitten by the mosquito get on a plane and travel around the globe. The virus stays in the bloodstream for weeks and can be transmitted by an infected male via semen. Also, the person who is bitten in Rio who travels to Florida and is bitten by a local mosquito can spread the disease to other unsuspecting individuals as the mosquitoes bite them. The consequences of this disease spreading is disastrous.
Women of child-bearing age who have traveled to Central or South America should always have a blood test if they become pregnant or plan to become pregnant, to be assured they do not have this virus in their bloodstream. And use lots of bug spray if you're in an area with mosquitoes.
Zika could rapidly spread around the world as travelers who were bitten by the mosquito get on a plane and travel around the globe. The virus stays in the bloodstream for weeks and can be transmitted by an infected male via semen. Also, the person who is bitten in Rio who travels to Florida and is bitten by a local mosquito can spread the disease to other unsuspecting individuals as the mosquitoes bite them. The consequences of this disease spreading is disastrous.
Women of child-bearing age who have traveled to Central or South America should always have a blood test if they become pregnant or plan to become pregnant, to be assured they do not have this virus in their bloodstream. And use lots of bug spray if you're in an area with mosquitoes.
18
I met someone in Idaho that had become paralyzed after contracting West Nile virus from a mosquito bite locally. They had made a partial recovery but were still in a wheel chair 14 months later.
8
We continue to see new infections - in 2014 we saw a novel enterovirus C105 which caused polio type paralysis in young kids in the US. We were worried if it could be GB syndrome variant at that time. It was something different but caused devastation paralysis in nearly 118 children. Now we see Ziki virus and GB syndrome. It is the constant battle between species. Viruses/bacteria are often seen to survive and evolve exchanging genetic information. Unfortunately humans cannot exchange resistance genes readily! So the best we can do is what we always did - exchange intellectual knowledge and develop survival strategies. Research, the pursuit of knowledge, is the most important tool! I am glad that our leaders had some sense this year to increase funding for medical research. We need even more!
10
This is what happens when migrants from Third World countries like Central America enter the US illegally. It used to be if an applicant tor refugee stats had come communicable disease like TB - they weren't admitted to the US.
We should keep that policy now. If these migrants from Central America carry these disease we should send them right back to Central America.
We should keep that policy now. If these migrants from Central America carry these disease we should send them right back to Central America.
17
For crying out loud, this is a vector-borne disease. The fact that certain types of mosquitoes, which are capable of passing the disease from one person to another, are breeding in the Southern US is raising the likelihood that the disease could spread if it establishes some presence. Without the mosquitoes, there would be no worry about the spread.
4
Zika and Guillain-Barre are not contagious, except Zika between pregnant mother and fetus. Mosquitos spread Zika, not humans. Completely different from TB, an infectious disease.
9
Perhaps before making these sweeping anti-immigration recommendations, one should think of relevant details such as whether the disease is contagious person to person and the means by which it is most often communicated.
Technically even marine freight for global commerce, shipments of agricultural products, and even airline cargo can bring viruses to our shores (just as by the same means we may be exporting our own indigenous infectious agents to areas where they did not previously exist).
Technically even marine freight for global commerce, shipments of agricultural products, and even airline cargo can bring viruses to our shores (just as by the same means we may be exporting our own indigenous infectious agents to areas where they did not previously exist).
19
This summer's Olympic games should present a strange drama.
7
Many years ago I had a major neurological attack about a week after being bitten by mosquitoes in the US south. A year after that I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. I've always had a feeling it was those mosquito bites instead. However, whenever I bring that up to neurologists, they look at me like I'm crazy.
38
The identical thing happened to me in 1990 in Miami. We were besieged in our neighborhood by what the news called encephalitic mosquitos. I tried to get the county to spray in our area to no avail. My kids and I were bitten from head to toe. Shortly afterwards I had my first MS attack and years lately my son was also diagnosed with MS. I've always suspected it was the mosquitos.
21
One thing that drives me nuts is that in the rush to tell people DON'T PANIC the experts always, always overstate what they know. Count the number of times the experts were surprised by events with Ebola, which has been around for decades. A man infected his girlfriend months after he recovered b/c it stuck around in his semen. "Oh." A doctor here in this country was found to have the virus flourishing in his eyeball fluid, of all things, long after he was thought to have recovered. "Oh." Ebola sometimes is followed by encephalitis, possibly due to treatments which short-circuit the natural immune response and preventing it from clearing the virus from the brain. "Oh." And so on.
So you're probably right.
So you're probably right.
2
No one knows the cause of multiple sclerosis or its near relative amylotropic lateral sclerosis (als) - horrible "autoimmune" diseases. I think this is naive because the diseases the "auto" part is the reaction, not the cause. So calling it autoimmune doesn't lead to cures. These diseases are terrifying. I knew one woman who first lost one son and then her remaining son, to als. Yet the standard medical belief is that the disease is not contagious. If the cause is unknown how do doctors know that it is not contagious?
I think many autoimmune diseases may be triggered by a virus or other agent but that we cannot connect cause and effect. We should collect enough information about each case, in a standard, comparable format, to compare data on all cases - a huge data task but not beyond our current computers. Most of our medical research in America is financed by drug companies or scientists at research institutions funded largely by drug companies. This pushes research toward the discovery of drugs to treat coditions in large numbers of people - often caused by poor health practices like over-eating or smoking. We have never been able to develop drugs to cure malaria, or other diseases carried by mosquitos. We destroy our tropical forests to our great peril and even perhaps to our dying out as a species. The agents that could cure many diseases may lie in plants never identified in those ancient forests.
I think many autoimmune diseases may be triggered by a virus or other agent but that we cannot connect cause and effect. We should collect enough information about each case, in a standard, comparable format, to compare data on all cases - a huge data task but not beyond our current computers. Most of our medical research in America is financed by drug companies or scientists at research institutions funded largely by drug companies. This pushes research toward the discovery of drugs to treat coditions in large numbers of people - often caused by poor health practices like over-eating or smoking. We have never been able to develop drugs to cure malaria, or other diseases carried by mosquitos. We destroy our tropical forests to our great peril and even perhaps to our dying out as a species. The agents that could cure many diseases may lie in plants never identified in those ancient forests.
2
Pure speculation on this issue, but a whole range of areas that insects and animals and plants find "comfortable" have been changing dramatically as our average temperature increases.
11
This is a nightmare. What is going to happen with the Olympics? Should they still be held in this region? I recall how happy some people were when Obama's Chicago didn't win the bid to host the Olympics.
I feel so sad for the people of Brazil and other countries in this region.
I feel so sad for the people of Brazil and other countries in this region.
16
World leaders should be discussing a "moon shot" to eradicate mosquitos. They are a scourge on the human race.
26
Get rid of mosquitoes, and you eliminate a large part of the bird population. This is not the solution.
12
do women exposed to the Zika virus carry it permanently in their bodies. How can they know if it will affect their future babies after they recover from the initial disease attack? The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has greatly reduced the incidence of malaria in Africa by simple means such as mosquito nets. It is not possible to completely eliminate mosquitos because the problem is too widespread. The moon was a specific target which we could hit. Mosquitoes have proved impossible to eradicate - we have been trying for a very long time.
2
Should do wonders for foreign attendance at the Olympics.
17
There has to be a reason for the increasing number of new bacteria and virus proliferation, and it can not be attributed to heat alone. Life can originate when water and carbon meet. If you read old books on viruses, you will see that virology is a relatively new science, less than 200 years old.
True, we have had a few around for quite a while; malaria is one of the oldest. It originated in two places on earth, far from each other, in the east near, near Azerbiazian and in Africa. What did those places have in common?
True, we have had a few around for quite a while; malaria is one of the oldest. It originated in two places on earth, far from each other, in the east near, near Azerbiazian and in Africa. What did those places have in common?
5
A question for the epidemiologists!
3
The reason we see new disease proliferation could simply be that once a virus moves from the population that is used to it, and lands in a population that is not, we "discover" it: really it has been endemic for a long time, and either mutated or migrated to a new population with little immunity.
I wondered how we could have missed Lyme. Here you cannot walk through your yard and not pick up a tick, and yet Lyme seemed to burst onto the scene full grown just a few decades ago. I was gob-smacked to discover that the frozen mummy found in the Alps about 5000 years ago apparently had a type of Lyme - it has been around for millennia.
I wondered how we could have missed Lyme. Here you cannot walk through your yard and not pick up a tick, and yet Lyme seemed to burst onto the scene full grown just a few decades ago. I was gob-smacked to discover that the frozen mummy found in the Alps about 5000 years ago apparently had a type of Lyme - it has been around for millennia.
3
It is not new bacteria but new strains resistant to our new chemicals (antibiotics for whatever sort of "biotic" they are). Our microscopy got going over that period and until then we were not able to see nor truly understand the nature of a microbe that infects a cell (virus) versus a cell that infects a complicated multicellular being (most bacteria).
Anywhere a cluster of food is will allow that microbe to live and naturally evolve (our blood is food for mosquitos and our bodies are food for the virus). The question is what is the tipping point that this virus took off.
The comment above about a "moonshot" of eradication may not be a bad one but it will take a gargantuan effort against these puny threats.
Anywhere a cluster of food is will allow that microbe to live and naturally evolve (our blood is food for mosquitos and our bodies are food for the virus). The question is what is the tipping point that this virus took off.
The comment above about a "moonshot" of eradication may not be a bad one but it will take a gargantuan effort against these puny threats.
1
No one has mentioned that many of these mysterious viruses began appearing as a result of clear cutting the rainforests, releasing thousands of heretofore-unknown microbes into the human population. These rainforests are being razed so that the land can be used to graze cattle, so American can continue to enjoy $2 hamburgers. But the price we are paying for all that cheap meat is exposure to microorganisms to which we have developed NO immunity and which are very often fatal.
87
It would be quite the painful irony if the climate injury that is also brought on by those felled trees and raised cows is offset by mass human death and disease from super-skeeters and super-germs chased out of the forests.
Nature will deal more vengeance yet.
Nature will deal more vengeance yet.
7
NYTimes - please investigate this.
1
The Zika virus did not originate in the rainforests of South America. It started in Africa, spread to Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands and was unknown in the Western Hemisphere until 2015 when it emerged in Brazil several weeks after the World Cup and an international canoe race were held in Rio de Janeiro..
2
Is it a coincidence that the last two years are the warmest on record as we witness this virus outbreak carried by mosquitoes? Global disease outbreaks from known and unknown organisms are likely to be one of the major consequences as climate disruption intensifies. The sudden explosion of disease vectors such as mosquitoes are difficult to predict, like the weather itself. It seems likely we will only become aware of new exotic disease outbreaks only after it is well under way. And vaccines to new pathogens take years to develop.
The biggest question for me is when will the science deniers yield to facts or simply be pushed out of the way.
The biggest question for me is when will the science deniers yield to facts or simply be pushed out of the way.
48
It could be a coincidence. OR, things could be even worse than they appear.
8
Ya-well, climate change deniers pay absolutely no attention to scientific evidence, and you have absolutely no scientific evidence that global warming is to blame for this outbreak. Interesting extrapolation of course...
Does Zika leave it's victims only temporarily paralyzed?
The Zika virus does NOT cause paralysis but HAS been linked to an auto-immune disorder which does.
1
Its not Zika itself that causes the paralysis. It can cause the development of Guillain-Barrre, which can lead to paralysis. It's in the article.
Perhaps not but stupidity does incline one to type the conjunction for "it is", i.e. "it's" when one presumably means the non-gendered possessive pronoun "its".
Globalization (affected mosquitoes hitch a ride), human travel from one part of the world to another, or bird migration from one part of the world to another. That is, mosquito bite an affected bird, animal or human and bites another bird, animal or human. These are methods of how to spread the virus.
Playing in all of this is increasi8ng overall world temperatures allowing further range of affected mosquitoes. And more precipitation; creating breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Throw in the fact more and more mosquitoes are becoming resistant to pesticides. Thus, allowing even more mosquito growth to pass various diseases.
Human kind has done a good job in controlling bacteria infections, vermin and treating viruses. But, 125 to 150 years of scientific advances are effectively breaking down as nature adjusts. And human kind must continue to adjust, but may eventually lose out to nature.
From "War of the Worlds" (1953):
"The Martians had no resistance to the bacteria in our atmosphere to which we have long since become immune. Once they had breathed our air, germs, which no longer affect us, began to kill them. The end came swiftly. All over the world, their machines began to stop and fall. After all that men could do had failed, the Martians were destroyed and humanity was saved by the littlest things, which God, in His wisdom, had put upon this Earth."
Sometimes science fiction becomes science fact.
Playing in all of this is increasi8ng overall world temperatures allowing further range of affected mosquitoes. And more precipitation; creating breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Throw in the fact more and more mosquitoes are becoming resistant to pesticides. Thus, allowing even more mosquito growth to pass various diseases.
Human kind has done a good job in controlling bacteria infections, vermin and treating viruses. But, 125 to 150 years of scientific advances are effectively breaking down as nature adjusts. And human kind must continue to adjust, but may eventually lose out to nature.
From "War of the Worlds" (1953):
"The Martians had no resistance to the bacteria in our atmosphere to which we have long since become immune. Once they had breathed our air, germs, which no longer affect us, began to kill them. The end came swiftly. All over the world, their machines began to stop and fall. After all that men could do had failed, the Martians were destroyed and humanity was saved by the littlest things, which God, in His wisdom, had put upon this Earth."
Sometimes science fiction becomes science fact.
33
It'd be really nice if instead of reading about wonderful diseases like Zika and the markets collapsing due to something involving china and the nearsighted money-grubbing nature of investors we could read about money being invested into research to help understand, control, and treat the Zika Virus.
9
The Guillain-Barré syndrome reminds me of the rash of deaths from Reyes syndrome in the 70's. Children with lingering low-level fevers following acute chicken pox infections were regularly prescribed aspirin and allowed to leave their sick beds and go back to school. Thanks to this interference with the natural immune response, the virus made its way to the childrens brains and death followed.
The Zika virus may be using a similar patway to the brain.
There are obviously times when your fever may be your best friend.
Larry Craig
Waupaca WI
The Zika virus may be using a similar patway to the brain.
There are obviously times when your fever may be your best friend.
Larry Craig
Waupaca WI
10
That isn't what happened. Children are not given aspirin because Reye's symdrome may result, for reasons that are not well understood.
NO--repeat, NO--child or teen should be given aspirin or anything else that contains salicylates without a doctor's express order.
NO--repeat, NO--child or teen should be given aspirin or anything else that contains salicylates without a doctor's express order.
1
I was surprised to read that the condition was so rare that Brazil's Health Ministry did not have regions report it, until recently. I think it would be more informative to know if there were even a handful of cases or none at all, especially since tracking is now so important to public health.
5
Mosquitoes breed in standing water, a term which overlaps significantly "wetlands". Mosquitoes can be killed through the use of pesticides; a practical, inexpensive pesticide is DDT.
As we fight to control this latest threat from nature, we are going to have to balance environmental concerns with the need to prevent the spread of this devastating virus.
This is going to require judgment and compromise. Many feel that millions of lives were unnecessarily lost to malaria because we overregulated DDT. It was essentially banned completely when the better approach would have been a nuanced one. We overreacted.
Let us not repeat this mistake.
As we fight to control this latest threat from nature, we are going to have to balance environmental concerns with the need to prevent the spread of this devastating virus.
This is going to require judgment and compromise. Many feel that millions of lives were unnecessarily lost to malaria because we overregulated DDT. It was essentially banned completely when the better approach would have been a nuanced one. We overreacted.
Let us not repeat this mistake.
13
Too bad DDT causes cancer and birth defects.
33
A vaccine against Zika would probably be the best bet.
18
Evidence? DDT has a low acute toxicity in human beings, and a long history of successful use in protecting people from malaria and other mosquito-borne illness. Unfortunately, environmentalist zealots got a bee in their bonnet about it, and used a lot of very dubious science to have it banned. The equipment they used to use to detect it in the environment (the electron capture detector) can't differentiate between DDT and PCBs, and it's possible that a lot of the problems that were blamed on DDT were actually due to PCBs (which are extremely resistant to degradation, persist in the environment for a long time, and can bioaccumulate).
7
The Olympics in Brazil is shaping up to be a nightmare.
How many athletes will either skip going or get sick?
How many athletes will either skip going or get sick?
66
Luckily for the organizers, the Olympics will be in Winter, when lower temperatures and decreased rainfall decrease insect-transmitted diseases enormously. That is not to say that there are many, many other problems regarding the Olympics including lack of infrastructure, corruption, disorganization and pollution.
1
I came down with Guillain-Barré syndrome in November, 1981, in suburban New York. Until I read this article the cause has been a mystery (see my book “Blue Water, White Water”). True, there are no mosquitoes here in November, but I had just come back from the topics. Mystery solved? I’ll never know.
52
From the NYT review for the book mentioned: "Just when it seems long past time for the age of memoir to be over -- just when it seems impossible that any ailing person with literary inclinations could find anything new to say ... yet another book comes along. .... the sketchbook of a professional observer, brisk, unsentimental, sardonic and altogether deadly."
6
No, not solved. I think it's more complicated than that. My cousin had G-B and had never traveled much of anywhere.
1
If, as some scientists believe, the Zika virus arrived in Brazil during the World Cup in 2014 or during a canoe race a few weeks later, then it's time to ban all international sporting events such as the upcoming Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. These worldwide events, aside from being an extravagent waste of resources and money, are putting the health of the human population of the Western Hemisphere at risk. The planet simply cannot afford this unnecessary indulgence in the 21st century.
47
Thank you, Adam.
2
By that logic, wouldn't it also be necessary to ban international travel and, for that matter, trade? Hmmm...
5
Should we understand that lives in the Western hemisphere are of equal value but higher than those of the Eastern hemisphere? I don't see the connection to the story, sorry.
Oh good. Can't wait for the IOC 'corruption scandal' scheduled for 12-18 months from now. Anyone care to publish a decision model for cancelling a global sporting event?
5
Oops, sorry about that... perhaps we should keep all this double-top secret?
1
Yes, increased global trade over the last 10-20 years has brought benefits to both sides of the bargain, but we're all also paying the price in so many different ways that are difficult to quantify, whether it be environmental damage and coal fired power plants in China or broader distribution of communicable diseases.
There are plenty of profits for the Walmarts of the world, as the costs distributed to those least able to pay.
There are plenty of profits for the Walmarts of the world, as the costs distributed to those least able to pay.
46
There used to be screening of communicable diseases and vaccinations for visas..
There was a reason for that.
There are more controls for taking fruit into California.
There was a reason for that.
There are more controls for taking fruit into California.
5
The world economies simply accepting that there will never be enough money for every thing is not going to work. See Flint, MI.