Every parent of an anencephalic baby who tries to raise it will have their life consumed in a hopeless task without reward. The Republicans will probably try to mandate it as the will of God.
8
Quoted below is Florida's Senator making a pitch that is going to fall on deaf ears in Congress because (a) as the Senator who has missed the most votes, many members of Congress will not be impressed with his sudden interest in self-serving legislation, and (b) he voted against relief for environmental disasters that affected states other than Florida, such as when Sandy laid waste to NJ and NY. Other Senators do not forget such selfish lack of support when they needed it.
"Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who voted for the funding request, said in an interview that he was urging Congress to come back to pass the funding bill in August under parliamentary procedures.
“I still think there is a significant number of people in Congress who think Zika is not their problem,” Mr. Rubio said, adding, “Perhaps the fact that now it has occurred may change the dynamic a little bit.”
Marco, your credibility is shot - couldn't even win the primary in your own state and now have reversed the declaration you made when you ran in the presidential primary that you would not run again for Senate. You failed to convince Republicans to support Zika funding before they took their 11 week break, and you will fail to persuade them now to come back to Washington to pass such funding. Better go out and campaign some more - a lot!
"Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who voted for the funding request, said in an interview that he was urging Congress to come back to pass the funding bill in August under parliamentary procedures.
“I still think there is a significant number of people in Congress who think Zika is not their problem,” Mr. Rubio said, adding, “Perhaps the fact that now it has occurred may change the dynamic a little bit.”
Marco, your credibility is shot - couldn't even win the primary in your own state and now have reversed the declaration you made when you ran in the presidential primary that you would not run again for Senate. You failed to convince Republicans to support Zika funding before they took their 11 week break, and you will fail to persuade them now to come back to Washington to pass such funding. Better go out and campaign some more - a lot!
6
I doubt anything will be done about Zika in Florida until it affects tourism. Also they gloss over the problem of sexual transmission of Zika in the news. They talk about mosquitos but not the risk of having sex with someone who has been to an affected area who has no symptoms.
5
Zika preferentially affects neural progenitor or cells according to the CDC. It seems likely then that newborns and even children if infected with Zika would be afflicted with permanent neurological defects since neural progenitor cells are active in them as well.
3
Of course local, state and federal government have done nothing. This is a "woman's" issue and a lower income mostly immigrant community problem. Women will bear and care for the babies. Not our problem. That the Zika mosquitoes come from countries of "color" means that mostly people from those countries will be affected. Not our problem. The racist GOP rears its ugly head once again. And when white women give birth to babies with microcephaly?
5
Aggressive screening of all pregnant women, regularly at every pre-natal visit will become the new normal. With immediate abortion of affected fetuses. And maybe getting kids infected young so they have immunity by the time they reproduce is a good idea, but not much is known about immunity to this virus. If my daughter was pregnant I would advise her to stay inside for 9 months.
2
I am here in Puerto Rico and the mainland has ignored us, both economically and culturally, for over a hundred years. The virus research should have been funded long ago; it's only when affluent whites start to get it that it becomes a national concern. We are part of the US, though we are merely just a colony. Cheap labor, cheap vacations, cheap soldier, cheap money lending. This is what I say: the chickens coming home to roost.
7
Because Medicaid does not cover abortion, low-income women whose fetuses have microcephaly will have not choice but to bring their pregnancies to term. Over 50% of pregnant women nationwide are covered by Medicaid. Taxpayers should be prepared to pay the costs of these children's care.
8
When West Nile first came to notice in New York, Congress treated it as a local problem. Local and state efforts to control the virus were the sum of action. With birds as a vector West Nile was in California a short few years later.
Vector born diseases are not a local problem, if the vector is not a localized animal.
As usual, the most useless Congress ever has lived up to their hard won reputation of being just as effective in recess (maybe more so) than when they are in session.
Vector born diseases are not a local problem, if the vector is not a localized animal.
As usual, the most useless Congress ever has lived up to their hard won reputation of being just as effective in recess (maybe more so) than when they are in session.
7
Congress plays politics and Florida Gov Scott, who also plays politics, by blaming President Obama for congressional misdeed. And Floridans suffer. You choose your governor and your congressional representatives. Think about that!
16
Mario Rubio, what say you, sir?
3
Well, now, now---so wanna see happens when your city permits houses before drainage? When your city, a MIami suburb, thinks its so slick the rules don't apply, says there will be stormwater drainage after the fact?
Three floods, moat land — Zika hatchery along with — aquifer breach, CESSPOOL, no place for the water to go ... click to Pinecrest Floods and Pinecrest Bans Sumpland to see.
https://pinecrestfloods.blogspot.com/
and/or
https://pinecrestbanssumpland.blogspot.com/
Now, you tell me about filling and elevating inland wetlands deemed too valuable to pass up, land without drainage, 5 acres of land without a place for the water to go.
The sumpland site has A Zika Story: Sump, Floods, Bugs ... is after the cesspool images.
Talk about environmental desecration: a vivid, ready made lesson plan for all the teachers out there.
Three floods, moat land — Zika hatchery along with — aquifer breach, CESSPOOL, no place for the water to go ... click to Pinecrest Floods and Pinecrest Bans Sumpland to see.
https://pinecrestfloods.blogspot.com/
and/or
https://pinecrestbanssumpland.blogspot.com/
Now, you tell me about filling and elevating inland wetlands deemed too valuable to pass up, land without drainage, 5 acres of land without a place for the water to go.
The sumpland site has A Zika Story: Sump, Floods, Bugs ... is after the cesspool images.
Talk about environmental desecration: a vivid, ready made lesson plan for all the teachers out there.
8
Gee, thanks to the Republicans who went on vacation after refusing to fund reasonable Zika prevention efforts.
And if you DARE to blame Democrats who wouldn't support legislation that included defunding Planned Parenthood, which would help women delay or end pregnancies that have a disturbing likelihood of ending badly for all concerned, hey Rebuplican religious so-called "pro life" dudes, are you going to adopt those babies?
Shame on religious zealots and pandering politicians who have no actual respect for life. REAL life, where e parents can devote their considerable effort to raising a healthy, normal baby with a viable brain.
Raising a functional human being is hard in the best of circumstances, so as good citizens we should ensure that we can have babies when we can do a good job of that hard task, not under duress and not when the odds are against us. For instance if we live in hot southern climes where mosquitoes carry a terrible disease.
Supporting birth control and abortion is what what "pro-life" means to thinking people with love in their hearts. Restricting access to birth control, including abortion, forces parenthood on people who are not equipped right now to be good parents.
Denying critical preventative care to would-be mothers and fathers in the name of "pro-life" politics is unspeakable.
Heather
And if you DARE to blame Democrats who wouldn't support legislation that included defunding Planned Parenthood, which would help women delay or end pregnancies that have a disturbing likelihood of ending badly for all concerned, hey Rebuplican religious so-called "pro life" dudes, are you going to adopt those babies?
Shame on religious zealots and pandering politicians who have no actual respect for life. REAL life, where e parents can devote their considerable effort to raising a healthy, normal baby with a viable brain.
Raising a functional human being is hard in the best of circumstances, so as good citizens we should ensure that we can have babies when we can do a good job of that hard task, not under duress and not when the odds are against us. For instance if we live in hot southern climes where mosquitoes carry a terrible disease.
Supporting birth control and abortion is what what "pro-life" means to thinking people with love in their hearts. Restricting access to birth control, including abortion, forces parenthood on people who are not equipped right now to be good parents.
Denying critical preventative care to would-be mothers and fathers in the name of "pro-life" politics is unspeakable.
Heather
28
Life after death is forever, or so they claim.
A couple of thoughts on this. Those women mentioned in the article who were thinking of becoming pregnant and using bug spray ought to think about their husband's susceptibility to being stung by a mosquito as well, as he can transmit Zita to her if he gets infected.
Maybe we are just better off exposing kids to the virus when they are young and healthy and can achieve immunity?
I figure this is just the beginning of what we will see in terms of the inroad of viruses and other hazards to areas where they were not previously known. I know that here in VT we are dealing with plant diseases and pests that are quite new here. Ticks are now an ever present danger and we never had a culture of checking for ticks or tick management. Lyme disease has skyrocketed here as a result.
The world we are leaving our kids and grandkids is not going to be the one we grew up in.
Maybe we are just better off exposing kids to the virus when they are young and healthy and can achieve immunity?
I figure this is just the beginning of what we will see in terms of the inroad of viruses and other hazards to areas where they were not previously known. I know that here in VT we are dealing with plant diseases and pests that are quite new here. Ticks are now an ever present danger and we never had a culture of checking for ticks or tick management. Lyme disease has skyrocketed here as a result.
The world we are leaving our kids and grandkids is not going to be the one we grew up in.
9
So you want to avoid Zika? Do this: screen your windows and doors. It works!
Natural selection at work. Countless virus species and strains compete for reproductive success (mostly in bacteria) by finding new vectors and hosts. It's constantly happening all around us but we know nothing about it. And thanks to the dismal state of scientific literacy, bordering on nil with evolutionary biology, the American public also doesn't understand that it's inevitable, our anti-science Republican "Ignorant and Proud of it" Congress especially.
New Zika strains emerged thanks to the Law of Large Numbers. An infinite number of monkeys typing on an infinite number of typewriters eventually will write The Great Books. Zika found better ways to propagate in the classic Darwinian "life finds a way" formulation simply because that's what "life" is, what it does; also why stopping Zika never was in the cards. You might as well try to stop the sunrise.
Some new strains will be more benign than others. The danger is that the most virulent, probably still evolving, will have "Jekyll and Hyde" traits that create a great pandemic like the "1918 Influenza Pandemic" or "Plague of Justinian"; an immense social crisis. Jekyll: Zika is asymptomatic in new-infected hosts possibly for weeks, facilitating transmission. Hyde: it inflicts great damage at the cellular level that triggers an immune system overreaction both permanently maiming its host.
Zika couldn't have been stopped short of a massive polio style inoculation campaign but it mutated far too quickly to be contained.
New Zika strains emerged thanks to the Law of Large Numbers. An infinite number of monkeys typing on an infinite number of typewriters eventually will write The Great Books. Zika found better ways to propagate in the classic Darwinian "life finds a way" formulation simply because that's what "life" is, what it does; also why stopping Zika never was in the cards. You might as well try to stop the sunrise.
Some new strains will be more benign than others. The danger is that the most virulent, probably still evolving, will have "Jekyll and Hyde" traits that create a great pandemic like the "1918 Influenza Pandemic" or "Plague of Justinian"; an immense social crisis. Jekyll: Zika is asymptomatic in new-infected hosts possibly for weeks, facilitating transmission. Hyde: it inflicts great damage at the cellular level that triggers an immune system overreaction both permanently maiming its host.
Zika couldn't have been stopped short of a massive polio style inoculation campaign but it mutated far too quickly to be contained.
6
"Low income communities with weak tax bases...." not getting adequate public health measures such as mosquito spraying is an outrage. Mosquitos do not know boundaries and eventually the wealthy will also get bitten.
12
Marco's party of no once again left American lives in danger. Wise up, Florida. Your state is infected with Zika and your shores are under attack from seas yet your GOP leaders don't care!
20
So whatever happened to swine flu, bird flu, ebola, pig flu, aids, etc.? It seems that once or twice a year the media starts itching and finds a new terror that might destroy us all. Meanwhile, cigarettes and booze take out more than any of these other maladies. Let's get more realistic about all this stuff and stop running the scare headlines.
5
well yes and no, but its not comforting to women in the southern states right now that their future child may develop irreversible birth defects all because of a mosquito bite or sex with a prior infected man.
3
Well, in this case, why even bother with topics like the lead-tainted water in Flint, public corruption to save a few bucks leading to developmental delay in poor children there? Who cares, right?
The logical consequence would be to do away with the CDC, let natural selection take its course, and merrily go back into the dark ages.
Tobacco and alcohol are individual choices and, yes, someone wants to kill himself, in whatever way s/he wants, they're welcome, as long as they do not hurt anyone else in the process.
Transmissible diseases - or lead in the drinking water - are another matter. This is a public health concern. And the reason you have not heard anything lately about swine, bird or pig flu is that - thank God - we currently don't have a serious outbreak anywhere that threatens to go global. Nobody cares about Ebola, because the outbreak in Africa is largely contained and only poor people die there. So again, why bother? Ebola is much easier to target than flu. And AIDS? Triple anti-retroviral therapy has largely transformed that into a long-term malady akin to Type 2 diabetes. Generally, the longer a disease takes to kill, the less concerned the public becomes. That's an attitude we will all regret as we are getting older.
But ignoring infectious diseases? That's Russian roulette you are playing here. The necessary money Congress is not allocating now will grow a hundred fold once the predictable, but preventable, crisis finally arrives.
The logical consequence would be to do away with the CDC, let natural selection take its course, and merrily go back into the dark ages.
Tobacco and alcohol are individual choices and, yes, someone wants to kill himself, in whatever way s/he wants, they're welcome, as long as they do not hurt anyone else in the process.
Transmissible diseases - or lead in the drinking water - are another matter. This is a public health concern. And the reason you have not heard anything lately about swine, bird or pig flu is that - thank God - we currently don't have a serious outbreak anywhere that threatens to go global. Nobody cares about Ebola, because the outbreak in Africa is largely contained and only poor people die there. So again, why bother? Ebola is much easier to target than flu. And AIDS? Triple anti-retroviral therapy has largely transformed that into a long-term malady akin to Type 2 diabetes. Generally, the longer a disease takes to kill, the less concerned the public becomes. That's an attitude we will all regret as we are getting older.
But ignoring infectious diseases? That's Russian roulette you are playing here. The necessary money Congress is not allocating now will grow a hundred fold once the predictable, but preventable, crisis finally arrives.
2
"hundreds of pregnant women have tested positive in Puerto Rico. Each baby born from these women will be a disaster; financial and emotionally. If PR wasn't already broke this disaster would certainly be the finish. Isn't it about time to unleash a real weapon against Zika? DDT is the answer. It kills mosquitoes with greater effectiveness than any other insecticide; and it's cost effective because it's long lasting.
Yeah - I know - the Ospreys. I like birds too but babies come first. Yes - I've said it - humans, especially babies, come first before any animal - hundreds or thousands. Meanwhile windmills kill ten thousand eagles each year - and no one complains. It's amazing how environment zealots rather save Ospreys instead of potentially thousands of babies. Too much partisan bickering in Congress over this; meanwhile an unmitigated tragedy awaits. Let's go - break out the DDT now.
Yeah - I know - the Ospreys. I like birds too but babies come first. Yes - I've said it - humans, especially babies, come first before any animal - hundreds or thousands. Meanwhile windmills kill ten thousand eagles each year - and no one complains. It's amazing how environment zealots rather save Ospreys instead of potentially thousands of babies. Too much partisan bickering in Congress over this; meanwhile an unmitigated tragedy awaits. Let's go - break out the DDT now.
3
Please produce your "facts" on ten thousand eagles being killed by "windmills" each year. Waiting..............
5
DDT came within a hair of wiping out bald eagles. It weakened their eggshells so their eggs got crushed during incubation.
Tuberculosis was virtually gone in America until the flood of illegals invaded our country because of the unconstitutional actions by Obama and the Democrats. Now there is rock solid evidence that unfettered, unchecked illegal immigration has brought numerous diseases, once thought extinct in America, to our shores.
Perhaps the Zika virus is just another. How did it just show up now?
The Zika virus is related to dengue, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and West Nile viruses. It is carried b y humans and spread by Mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes have been in America forever. The Zika virus is as new as the illegal immigration savaging America. And from there is where it's coming from.
Perhaps the Zika virus is just another. How did it just show up now?
The Zika virus is related to dengue, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and West Nile viruses. It is carried b y humans and spread by Mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes have been in America forever. The Zika virus is as new as the illegal immigration savaging America. And from there is where it's coming from.
4
@ John "The Zika virus is as new as the illegal immigration savaging America."
1. Correlation does not equal causation.
2. It's primarily LEGAL, not illegal, immigration, as well as LEGAL travel by US citizens, that has brought Zika to Florida. Zika is endemic in Puerto Rico, wh is a US territory. American citizens also travel from Florida (& other states) to Mexico & Central & South America for a couple of weeks, then come home, sometimes infected w Zika. As the article says, Florida Aedes aegypti mosquitoes most likely bit a person who was infected with the virus, then bit an uninfected person to spread the virus.
3. Illegal immigration isn't even new. Remember the amnesty Ronald Reagan & Congress gave some 4 million illegal immigrants in 1986?
I'm strongly opposed to illegal immigration myself. I deplored the euphemistically titled "Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986" (wh should've been called the "Amnesty Act of 1986") back then, & I continue to deplore it today. It didn't take a genius, either, to figure out that the 1986 amnesty would create a tremendous further incentive for millions of foreigners to sneak in illegally. Now we're up to 12 million illegals, & both parties (& the Times) want to grant amnesty again.
But making faulty & unscientific arguments only hurts the push to crack down on illegal immigration.
1. Correlation does not equal causation.
2. It's primarily LEGAL, not illegal, immigration, as well as LEGAL travel by US citizens, that has brought Zika to Florida. Zika is endemic in Puerto Rico, wh is a US territory. American citizens also travel from Florida (& other states) to Mexico & Central & South America for a couple of weeks, then come home, sometimes infected w Zika. As the article says, Florida Aedes aegypti mosquitoes most likely bit a person who was infected with the virus, then bit an uninfected person to spread the virus.
3. Illegal immigration isn't even new. Remember the amnesty Ronald Reagan & Congress gave some 4 million illegal immigrants in 1986?
I'm strongly opposed to illegal immigration myself. I deplored the euphemistically titled "Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986" (wh should've been called the "Amnesty Act of 1986") back then, & I continue to deplore it today. It didn't take a genius, either, to figure out that the 1986 amnesty would create a tremendous further incentive for millions of foreigners to sneak in illegally. Now we're up to 12 million illegals, & both parties (& the Times) want to grant amnesty again.
But making faulty & unscientific arguments only hurts the push to crack down on illegal immigration.
6
Perhaps you aren't aware of this, but MANY American citizens have passports and they travel to South America. You might want to know a bit more before you blame "illegals".
5
For this weeks comment, I will be responding to the subject of the Zika virus in the article "4 Zika Cases in Florida Were Likely Spread by Local Mosquitoes, C.D.C. Says". How far will this virus spread? How many people will be infected? To kill the insects won't we be killing the environment as well? These are all questions we have to take in to consideration when dealing with this infection. As Dr. Frieden said "Confirming mosquito-borne transmission is not as easy as confirming infection" so my question is, how far will this infection go? How far until people start to be very concerned? Although mosquitoes cannot travel far humans are very capable of doing all the traveling in this infection. On the more positive side of this situation is that the Zika virus does not produce any symptoms but pregnant women are at great risks to birth defects if infected. So as harmless as this infection may seem to some, I believe there is a lot we know but a lot that we still have yet to discover about this virus.
4
It's the Republicans fault! Quick increase the deficit and throw millions of taxpayer dollars at fighting mosquitoes. First a study, then a few polls, then create a government agency with police powers and arm them with automatic weapons. The problem will be then be solved shortly.
3
The do-nothing gone-fishin Congress will be responsible for the babies born with lifelong deficits because of their inaction on research, prevention, and vaccine.
22
"The Aedes aegypti mosquito has a modest range in the United States, rarely appearing farther north than the Deep South, Arizona and California."
Aedes (albopictus, aegypti) mosquitoes have established populations where I live in NJ.
Aedes (albopictus, aegypti) mosquitoes have established populations where I live in NJ.
14
Another vector transmissible virus-this time in mosquitoes located in North and South America. It is not the first and will not be the last. As the climate warms, some of the older known mosquito-transmissible contagions may find their way into the US. Persons may not know that Malaria and yellow fever were known in the continental USA in years past.
Zika may not be much of a threat and will probably become less of a threat as time goes by. It should be a warning that a much more serious virus may manage to become established in mosquitoes in North America in the future. The lack of public funding from the US Congress to the CDC and other agencies is worrisome. All Americans should be wary of the anti-science stance of the GOP-deniers of climate change and deniers of basic scientific evidence about almost anything.
Zika may not be much of a threat and will probably become less of a threat as time goes by. It should be a warning that a much more serious virus may manage to become established in mosquitoes in North America in the future. The lack of public funding from the US Congress to the CDC and other agencies is worrisome. All Americans should be wary of the anti-science stance of the GOP-deniers of climate change and deniers of basic scientific evidence about almost anything.
36
It's time to fast track genetic modification to the mosquito's DNA to render it sterile -- an experimental technique that (I believe) is presently undergoing limited field testing. The mosquito is a parasite that spreads lethal diseases and, now, the horror of a deformed child. I'm no scientist or doctor, nor do I read scientific peer reviewed journals. But, I'm generally well informed and well read; and never in my entire life have a read a single article ascribing a single positive attribute to the mosquito, even in the grand context of the global ecosystem.
7
Adam, you've never read an article ascribing a single positive attribute to the mosquito because all those articles were written by humans. If bats wrote articles, they'd be comparing the gustatory delights of various mosquito species. Same, no doubt, for dragonflies, swallows, and swifts...
12
There happens to be a Mark Twain story you seriously need to read.
By the way, do you regularly take a set of wirecutters, waltz outside to the car, lift the hood, and start clipping out stuff you don't understand very well?
No? Why is that?
By the way, do you regularly take a set of wirecutters, waltz outside to the car, lift the hood, and start clipping out stuff you don't understand very well?
No? Why is that?
2
Let's not forget that there would have been funds to support an anti-pika program, but the Republicans in Congress decided it was more important to load the funding bill up with right-wing poison pills. This is a Republican problem that affects red states - go figure...
20
i am old enough to remember how many lawmakers and citizens mocked the CDC for issuing warnings about AIDS in the early 1980s. We sat on our you know whats and did nothing for years. When we finally reacted, hundreds of thousands of people had been infected. I, for one, am not taking this threat likely.
27
Didn't the House Republicans block funding for anti Zikz action? Oh I forgot they don't believe in science.
31
Perhaps we should consider building a wall around Miami to contain this Zika outbreak, but it certainly appears that Gov Scott has things under control.
No need to worry. And besides when Congress returns in September they may get around to debating once again whether there are any funds available or indeed necessary to prevent a Zika epidemic. They may want to consider that committing a billion dollars may create a few dozen jobs and that would look bad for November.
No need to worry. And besides when Congress returns in September they may get around to debating once again whether there are any funds available or indeed necessary to prevent a Zika epidemic. They may want to consider that committing a billion dollars may create a few dozen jobs and that would look bad for November.
8
Here we go soon "progressives" will be blaming white folk, and suggesting higher taxes will solve the problem, while simultaneously bashing insecticides as killing the environment.
2
Uh, insecticides ARE killing the environment. See yesterday's NYT article regarding bee sperm down approximately 40% due to insecticides. Insecticides are big money makers for chemical companies. There are non-toxic solutions for many insect problems - they just require a little more research and shopping, and the will to do so.
15
What's the difference between a Republican and a zika baby? Not the brain size.
7
And if a commenter posted this about Hilary and a zika baby, would you still think it's funny?
1
A climate change denier governor having to deal with one of the most frightening aspects of climate change. Next up....category 6 hurricanes. How long can the republican party continue their denial?
31
I've said it before and i'll say it again; 'Mother Nature is going to thin the herd'; and one can only hope that the climate change deniers are the first to go.
41
Epedemie...spend Money? A nother View...
The Zika Breach of Public Trust: The Wealth Transfer Model From US Taxpayers to Big Pharma...
In less than a decade, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared four global health emergencies starting with the 2009 swine flu outbreak. In 2012, the “wild” polio outbreak followed the flu pandemic. Both fizzled out, underperforming their hyped lethal spread.
At the Sixty-Fifth World Health Assembly “Poliomyelitis: intensification of the global eradication initiative,” which convened on April 5, 2012, the Secretariat Report stated: “In the majority of countries, out-of-season outbreaks are no longer being observed.”
If the outbreaks subsided on their own, why did the WHO use scare tactics to broadcast the non-emergency to the press? Money... more in Epoch Times under Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/2097548-the-zika-breach-of-public-trust-...
The Zika Breach of Public Trust: The Wealth Transfer Model From US Taxpayers to Big Pharma...
In less than a decade, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared four global health emergencies starting with the 2009 swine flu outbreak. In 2012, the “wild” polio outbreak followed the flu pandemic. Both fizzled out, underperforming their hyped lethal spread.
At the Sixty-Fifth World Health Assembly “Poliomyelitis: intensification of the global eradication initiative,” which convened on April 5, 2012, the Secretariat Report stated: “In the majority of countries, out-of-season outbreaks are no longer being observed.”
If the outbreaks subsided on their own, why did the WHO use scare tactics to broadcast the non-emergency to the press? Money... more in Epoch Times under Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/2097548-the-zika-breach-of-public-trust-...
3
My GOODNESS, but that's a stupid argument.
4
America's citizen whiners can easily address this problem themselves. I live in south Louisiana. We have lots of mosquitoes that bite during the day, even on Christmas day. It's just a matter of doing a little yard work and spending a bit of money on an insecticide fogger. I've filled in the low spots of the yard to eliminate standing water after our plentiful rain storms and also treat suspect areas with Altocid, the brand name for the insect growth inhibitor methoprene. There are others. When adults are flying, and biting, I spray around the house with a ULV (ultra low volume) sprayer that dispenses microfine droplets of the insecticide permethrin. The droplets are fine enough to float in the air and not be a hazard to larger insects like dragon flies or bees. Permethrin is safe and of low toxicity. Thermal foggers aren't quite as effective and people passing by will call the fire department thinking your house is burning. Unfortunately ULV sprayers are expensive. The one I use cost over $300, but in South Louisiana it's necessary to use the big guns. I can generally eliminate mosquitoes around the house for two weeks at a time.
Of course we also have a local mosquito control district that sprays periodically, either by truck or plane, and they will inspect and treat your yard upon request.
Of course we also have a local mosquito control district that sprays periodically, either by truck or plane, and they will inspect and treat your yard upon request.
7
Ah but Glen, what effect does all those insecticides have on your health? If they're lethal to mosquitoes, they're usually not good for us either, generally carcinogenic. I'd rather have Zika than cancer.
9
Well, unless you're cheery at the thought of permanent paralysis or how easy the wife's delivery will be with fetal head at three inches across crowning, Jill Stein's an idjit.
6
Permethrin is highly toxic to cats and extremely toxic to fish.
Methoprene may be responsible for the death of lobsters
Methoprene may be responsible for the death of lobsters
10
“They tend to bite locally, ZIP code by ZIP code,” Dr. Curry said.
What an odd statement. Sounds as if these mosquitos had a side job working as postal carriers. (Don't mean to be sarcastic or unsympathetic to anyone who has contracted the Zika virus. Apologies for being a smart you-know-what).
What an odd statement. Sounds as if these mosquitos had a side job working as postal carriers. (Don't mean to be sarcastic or unsympathetic to anyone who has contracted the Zika virus. Apologies for being a smart you-know-what).
13
Maybe it's a status thing, like Beverley Hills 90210.
Seriously, as odd as I found the statement to be, I found it to be a helpful illustration.
Seriously, as odd as I found the statement to be, I found it to be a helpful illustration.
4
The mosquitoes don't fly far from their home, thus the "biting locally" reference. It's interesting though as if one looks at a zip code where there's a Zika outbreak, one can see if there are many people living there who do travel to infected areas of the world. They may be bringing it back with them and are bitten by mosquitoes who then transmit it within the "zip code".
1
I agree completely with you marymary. I don't think you can get more specific than that, especially for the folks that live in those zip code areas.
3
The whole idea that we can do something about Zika via a massive increase in federal spending is fantasy. There is nothing that we can do to stop the spread of Zika within the US. The virus is clearly well adapted as it reproduces well in mosquitos and effectively infects humans. When an zoonotic disease causing organism has these traits, there is no way to stop its spread. The situation is analogous to West Nile Virus. That zoonotic virus, also spread by mosquitos, is also well adapted. It has now become just another risk factor, and we live with it. Indeed, unless you are pregnant, Zika virus infections are generally extremely mild or undetectable.
One can make an argument for beginning to spend money on developing drugs to treat it and/or a vaccine. However, spending money to stop its spread is just flushing money down the toilet.
One can make an argument for beginning to spend money on developing drugs to treat it and/or a vaccine. However, spending money to stop its spread is just flushing money down the toilet.
8
A lot can be done with mosquito control, though. Stepping up the spraying, using mosquito repellent with DEET when appropriate, and policing for standing water, just for starters. I live in Central Florida and had a discussion with my husband just today about reducing our risk. We don't feel helpless.
And there's a big difference between Zika and West Nile: the latter doesn't cause devastating birth defects. No, we can't just live with Zika.
And there's a big difference between Zika and West Nile: the latter doesn't cause devastating birth defects. No, we can't just live with Zika.
13
A massive push to develop a vaccine is needed, and that is what most increased spending should be directed toward.
Public education could decrease its spread. At the least, we don't want mosquitoes breeding inside, in our homes, stores, or workplaces (if indoors).
Surveys to determine its spread are very helpful.
Otherwise, I agree with you.
Public education could decrease its spread. At the least, we don't want mosquitoes breeding inside, in our homes, stores, or workplaces (if indoors).
Surveys to determine its spread are very helpful.
Otherwise, I agree with you.
4
Remind us taxpayers to sneer at you when you come down with Reye's. Or have you already?
It would certainly explain why the right-wingers display their ignorance while bragging about their scienceness.
It would certainly explain why the right-wingers display their ignorance while bragging about their scienceness.
3
Although I know this would be an extreme measure, why not every women who is pregnant get tested for Zika so that the pregnancy can be terminated a.s.a.p. I am not saying we should stop detecting the virus in our own mosquitoes and not use mosquito repellents. But people who have traveled to where there is a Zika epidemic or had sex with someone who has traveled there, it would be wise to get tested for Zika. This would prevent an epidemic, contain the virus and women having disabled babies. The CDC should put an aggressive, straightforward effort without hesitancy and procrastination. And for those who bemoan abortion, let them take the responsibility of a disabled baby.
11
People getting tested won't prevent an epidemic or contain the virus. Getting tested doesn't do anything. It's mosquito control and the development of a vaccine that we need to focus on.
11
Southerners are most at risk yet Red State representatives would not support funding to prevent Zika - unless Democrats agreed to remove coverage of contraception from Obamacare. Talk about shooting your constituents in the foot!
25
Why do those southern red states continue to fight birth control? It is my contention that they want a steady stream of poverty-ridden citizens whose only hope is to join the military.
2
Until Republicans can be held accountable for their obstructionism, we may as well give up any hope of help on Zika. Since "Saint Ronnie" the GOP has been winning by blaming the government for failing and then making it fail. Remember this is the same party that was happy to deny help after hurricanes and happy to put the US into the path of debt default.
No regards for the impact on human life, but since it helps them politically I guess it does not matter. Incredible.
No regards for the impact on human life, but since it helps them politically I guess it does not matter. Incredible.
21
Take away the Republicans' right to disagree. this partisanship must end.
3
It is no surprise that Wynwood is ground zero for the Zika virus to take hold in US. The gutters are a breeding ground for mosquitos because the water never fully drains properly. So much so that moss grows in the gutters here. Once a week street sweeping may aid in mosquito control. That may be too great of an expense though, I'm sure it's much cheaper to fumigate the area. Either way, something needs to be done. Maybe Miami-Dade needs a lesson on mosquito control from Monroe county? They do an amazing job with their mosquito control board!
12
Just wanted to point out what the media fails to do. That is, that the area of Florida now infected with this problem is the same place where Oxitec let go of its Genetically modified versions of the same at the end of June. Also, that Florida didn't need to modify its mosquitors to prevent diseases it did not have in the first place; and so it places question on the whole reason for it. Now as I understand it, people became sick within a week from when those gmo bugs were released. Added to that they did the same in Brazil in 2013. Then as this matter became news, we learn that the same exact location known as the epicenter of Zika is exactly where the bugs were released there in Brazil. Sorry, I don't think this is a coincidence and the fact that we are supposed to view it that way just goes to show how dumb everyone thinks we are. For those of us who aren't that dumb, I suppose we have comment proofers to delete our views - when we try to point out these rather obvious things to those who didnt. My comment doesn't name call, use foul language etc. and so why should it be deleted. Thi s is what people should be talking about!!!
2
I recall years ago when the West Nile virus reared it's ugly head. So much spraying went on in my neighbor to help eliminate the threat. It helped but did not eliminate the threat. My younger brother contracted West Nile away. Now we read of the Zika cases in the US, the latest in Florida directly from mosquitos. How many people must die and/or have permanent life altering effects from these diseases before the Government gets aggressive and starts allocating money into research on a continuous basis to help combat this situation? Like one commenter stated earlier - reach out to your Congressman and demand action from the Federal Government.
11
Florida Gov. Scott might regret his decision to block 670,000 Floridians from obtaining health care coverage at Federal expense under the Obamacare Medicaid expansion. Not what you want during an infectious disease outbreak.
17
Why would Gov. Scott regret his decision?
I imagine that Donald Trump's first act as president will be to strip millions of Americans of health care and to strip American women who pay for their health insurance from receiving contraception from their insurance company.
I've been to Florida a couple of time. I don't need to ever go back there.
I imagine that Donald Trump's first act as president will be to strip millions of Americans of health care and to strip American women who pay for their health insurance from receiving contraception from their insurance company.
I've been to Florida a couple of time. I don't need to ever go back there.
16
But so far his bet was a good one.
1
This should be in the headlines and should be greatly funded because this is going to end up being the greatest cause of Florida's disabled children. The doctors are only providing short term solutions like "staying indoors after its rained", which is not a plausable and acceptable solution.
Furthermore the CDC need to up its efforts in this crisis. If the virus does get out of hand florida's generations would be screwed up for who knows how long.
In conclusion the people of florida need to act by being more aware and taking steps to preventing the spread of this virus to ensure the safety of our future generations.
Furthermore the CDC need to up its efforts in this crisis. If the virus does get out of hand florida's generations would be screwed up for who knows how long.
In conclusion the people of florida need to act by being more aware and taking steps to preventing the spread of this virus to ensure the safety of our future generations.
8
We are doomed!
Trey, it won't be just Florida.
7
"State officials have complained, however, that they are hobbled by a lack of funding: Congress left for recess this month without passing President Obama’s $1.9 billion funding request to fight the virus. Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the director of the C.D.C., has said that failure would significantly hamper federal public health efforts."
Sadly, a NY Times reporter emailed me to say that since they had already mentioned the funding issue in other articles, the lack of funding for Zika control was no longer worthy of mention in a Zika article.
Nor does the above re-write (by Ms. Tavernise added to the byline) mention the reason for no funding: G.O.P. congressional leaders are demanding the American women be stripped of their right to contraception under The Affordable Care Act in return to voting for Zika control...and uncharacteristically Democrats haven't caved in yet.
And of course, Andy from Toronto, you are right. A mosquito-borne disease that is going to produce a generation of brain-disabled children should be worthy of a comment.
WHERE is Hillary Clinton on this?
We know where Donald Trump is...on Twitter chatting for Vlad Putin.
Sadly, a NY Times reporter emailed me to say that since they had already mentioned the funding issue in other articles, the lack of funding for Zika control was no longer worthy of mention in a Zika article.
Nor does the above re-write (by Ms. Tavernise added to the byline) mention the reason for no funding: G.O.P. congressional leaders are demanding the American women be stripped of their right to contraception under The Affordable Care Act in return to voting for Zika control...and uncharacteristically Democrats haven't caved in yet.
And of course, Andy from Toronto, you are right. A mosquito-borne disease that is going to produce a generation of brain-disabled children should be worthy of a comment.
WHERE is Hillary Clinton on this?
We know where Donald Trump is...on Twitter chatting for Vlad Putin.
16
I don't understand why this is not a headline news.
41
Time to start restricting flights from Miami to the safer states?
7
Instead we should just remove all standing water from the continental US. Makes as much sense.
4
We need a wall around and an end to immigration from Florida.
Donald Trump
Donald Trump
10
Did I mention my daughter's pregnant?
Wow, I'm reading a lot of comments about Zika being part of nature, part of God's big plan, not that big a deal compared to a lot of other health-related issues, why spend money on something like this.
I really hate to pull this out, but I can't help but wonder if Zika caused guys' gonads to shrivel, if we wouldn't have a little more panic. And that panic would be considered 'legitimate' because men were affected, rather than women and children. I'm just thinking out loud.
Why do we have a public health structure if anything health/medical related is natural? Why do we develop strategies to address any health concerns or develop drugs for any health/medical issues? Just asking.
Wow, I'm reading a lot of comments about Zika being part of nature, part of God's big plan, not that big a deal compared to a lot of other health-related issues, why spend money on something like this.
I really hate to pull this out, but I can't help but wonder if Zika caused guys' gonads to shrivel, if we wouldn't have a little more panic. And that panic would be considered 'legitimate' because men were affected, rather than women and children. I'm just thinking out loud.
Why do we have a public health structure if anything health/medical related is natural? Why do we develop strategies to address any health concerns or develop drugs for any health/medical issues? Just asking.
47
Dear Itsmildeyes,
First off, congratulations on your upcoming grandchild. Please don't be too worried about this, as the chances of being affected by Zika are incredibly small in the U.S..
I think you've got a point that if Zika caused guys' gonads to spontaneously combust or something, it'd be seen as a far larger problem. But this isn't quite equivalent, since women contracting Zika don't have much chance of suffering physical damage from it. Microcephaly is also not assured, just a possibility, and there have been about 25,000 cases of it per year in the U.S. for a long time; for whatever reason, it's never been seen as a major problem.
Right now there are apparently 1,658 confirmed cases of Zika in the U.S., all but these 4 having been contracted in other regions. This is about 0.0005% of the country, and very few of these cases will result in a microcephalic baby.
So I think there's no legitimate panic over this right now because of its vanishingly small effect on Americans. If it was affecting 1 in 4 pregnant women, there sure would be a panic.
As for the public health structure doing something about this, they're working on a vaccine now apparently. But there are always tons of health problems that we can do little or nothing about too.
First off, congratulations on your upcoming grandchild. Please don't be too worried about this, as the chances of being affected by Zika are incredibly small in the U.S..
I think you've got a point that if Zika caused guys' gonads to spontaneously combust or something, it'd be seen as a far larger problem. But this isn't quite equivalent, since women contracting Zika don't have much chance of suffering physical damage from it. Microcephaly is also not assured, just a possibility, and there have been about 25,000 cases of it per year in the U.S. for a long time; for whatever reason, it's never been seen as a major problem.
Right now there are apparently 1,658 confirmed cases of Zika in the U.S., all but these 4 having been contracted in other regions. This is about 0.0005% of the country, and very few of these cases will result in a microcephalic baby.
So I think there's no legitimate panic over this right now because of its vanishingly small effect on Americans. If it was affecting 1 in 4 pregnant women, there sure would be a panic.
As for the public health structure doing something about this, they're working on a vaccine now apparently. But there are always tons of health problems that we can do little or nothing about too.
5
Because we pay the political class to spend
2
I had the same thought. Zika's worst impact is on women and children and when have Republicans ever cared about women or children?
7
Most of these comments are totally ridiculous. How exactly is this a government problem? This is a problem of lack of personal responsibility.
Pregnant women who live in a region where Zika virus is present have a personal responsibility to practice safe sex and take appropriate infection-prevention measures -- use of mosquito nets, appropriate clothing, etc. -- in order to reduce risk of exposing their developing fetuses.
It is their moral obligation -- and theirs alone -- to avoid or terminate pregnancy if living in a Zika-infested region.
Any woman who knowingly conceives and carries a child to delivery under these circumstances is entirely responsible for the outcome.
Doing so should be treated as a criminal act of willful negligence and abuse, and these women should be prosecuted accordingly.
No government anywhere in the world is prepared to spend $10M on treating Zika babies because of the careless and irresponsible behavior of their mothers.
Pregnant women who live in a region where Zika virus is present have a personal responsibility to practice safe sex and take appropriate infection-prevention measures -- use of mosquito nets, appropriate clothing, etc. -- in order to reduce risk of exposing their developing fetuses.
It is their moral obligation -- and theirs alone -- to avoid or terminate pregnancy if living in a Zika-infested region.
Any woman who knowingly conceives and carries a child to delivery under these circumstances is entirely responsible for the outcome.
Doing so should be treated as a criminal act of willful negligence and abuse, and these women should be prosecuted accordingly.
No government anywhere in the world is prepared to spend $10M on treating Zika babies because of the careless and irresponsible behavior of their mothers.
4
The one thing you got right is that you live in Mikhailistan.
10
Nets are essentially useless against the mosquito that carries Zika, since it bites during the day.
This is a government problem because mosquito control is too big for any individual to handle. You know, like roads and bridges and stuff like that. A functional government can and does handle the big stuff, to the benefit of all.
Unfortunately, we've forgotten what a functional government can do, because it has been quite a while since we've had one . . .
This is a government problem because mosquito control is too big for any individual to handle. You know, like roads and bridges and stuff like that. A functional government can and does handle the big stuff, to the benefit of all.
Unfortunately, we've forgotten what a functional government can do, because it has been quite a while since we've had one . . .
11
So, what you're saying is, people who willingly travel to other countries that have a Zika outbreak are not responsible? You mean the people who come back to the US presenting 5-10 new cases a day have no moral obligation either to a.) not travel to said country or b.) take appropriate prevention measures? I really hope you're being sarcastic.
5
And how long until it eventually moves through the whole South and then northwards? And, of course, it will.
21
We're the victims of global warming and international travel: two things that Republicans refuse to address. How typical and how many will suffer.
20
This was entirely predictable and still the Congressional GOP thought it clever to turn a relatively modest public health funding request into a political football, costing months of delay and added millions to address. When every issue is viewed through an ideological prism, the country suffers.
37
Just rewatched And the Band Plays On about the Reagan Administration's (non) response to the AIDS crisis. With the Republican congress what's old is new again.
26
I didn't realize Ohio, New York and New Jersey were in the "Deep South." The article wrongly implies that Aedes aegypti has an extremely limited range in the United States.
8
5
Aedes aegypti's potential range extends into Ohio, New York, and New Jersey, as I said, and as the CDC's map illustrates. The article's wording is misleading.
3
Why is this not on top of my screen but buried on the bottom? With all due respect for HRC and her achievements, I think her nomination has had enough publicity. This is a major health problem, very likely to become a national health crisis we are not prepared to tackle.
12
Yes, we all realize that Trump would like the Democratic success to go away. However, you may want to consider that if the Times puts the story where you want it, there'll be plenty of room to take a good hard look at the way our wacko right-wing Congress has blocked funding the President urgently requested in flipping FEBRUARY.
Why, we could even get into Michigan's indictment of a number of Republican-appointed water and heatlh board types, the way lunatics screamed even at Rick Perry over vaccinating against HPV because it wpuld "encourage sexual activity," and the rest of the roght-wing assault on acience, public health, and anything resembling a grain of common sense.
Why, we could even get into Michigan's indictment of a number of Republican-appointed water and heatlh board types, the way lunatics screamed even at Rick Perry over vaccinating against HPV because it wpuld "encourage sexual activity," and the rest of the roght-wing assault on acience, public health, and anything resembling a grain of common sense.
17
And where is Congress in all this?
They had a bill in front of them to fund additional Zika research, but instead chose to go on a 7-week vacation. Must be nice to have that much free time and a gold-plated health plan. They did, however, have time in their prior sessions to vote to repeal the ACA more than 60 times. The health and welfare of their constituents is clearly priority number one.
And they wonder why their approval ratings are in the toilet.
They had a bill in front of them to fund additional Zika research, but instead chose to go on a 7-week vacation. Must be nice to have that much free time and a gold-plated health plan. They did, however, have time in their prior sessions to vote to repeal the ACA more than 60 times. The health and welfare of their constituents is clearly priority number one.
And they wonder why their approval ratings are in the toilet.
25
Don't hold your breath for our do nothing Republican Congress who is currently on an 8 week vacation until mid September to do anything, just like they did with Eubola. Nevermind we have an Olympics coming up in Rio.
15
Come to Florida on your next vacation. The heat index is over 100", the green algae is in full bloom and a decent chance of contracting Zika for free!
63
So it begins...Sad, sad, sad....Move or abort? Wow; reality has set in.
7
Now we have another good reason not to go to Florida in addition to the alligators, snakes, sweltering heat, and an unusually virulent variety of republicans.
51
Don't forget the "stand your ground anywhere" gun laws that will allow anyone to shoot you and your family dead anywhere if they feel threatened, like if you are walking down the street packing a package of M&Ms and wearing a hoodie -- or any other outfit they don't like -- and they come up at you in their monster black SUV.
3
Zika disrupts neural progenitor cell differentiation, induces a CNS immune reaction (effectively a form of encephalitis) and induces death of postmitotic neurons. The combination of these mechanisms is how it induces microcephaly.
In adults, the immune reaction can induces Guillan-Barre syndrome, a peripheral neuropathy that can lead to persistent paralysis. What is unknown is its effect on neuronal neogenesis in adults, which, if equally affected as in unborn babies, could increase the incidence of age-related dementias, essentially Alzheimer's, down the road.
Right now, most of us don't seem to worry too much, unless we are in the family planning stage, but the spectre of increasing risk of "Alzheimer's" should rattle us all. Let me emphasize, we do not currently know whether Zika will translate into an increased risk for dementia, but the mechanisms by which it kills the developing brain are also relevant to the aging human brain.
Perhaps it might be a good idea to pick up the phone and call the few representatives in Congress who have not yet been infected by Zika that it's high time to get going and push the vaccine on the market.
In adults, the immune reaction can induces Guillan-Barre syndrome, a peripheral neuropathy that can lead to persistent paralysis. What is unknown is its effect on neuronal neogenesis in adults, which, if equally affected as in unborn babies, could increase the incidence of age-related dementias, essentially Alzheimer's, down the road.
Right now, most of us don't seem to worry too much, unless we are in the family planning stage, but the spectre of increasing risk of "Alzheimer's" should rattle us all. Let me emphasize, we do not currently know whether Zika will translate into an increased risk for dementia, but the mechanisms by which it kills the developing brain are also relevant to the aging human brain.
Perhaps it might be a good idea to pick up the phone and call the few representatives in Congress who have not yet been infected by Zika that it's high time to get going and push the vaccine on the market.
72
Thank you for this helpful information. Better and more concise than most coverage I have seen.
14
The gratuitous, knee-jerk anti-Republican invective in a significant number of these comments is counter-productive and depressing.
Two factors which have contributed to the spread of Zika are likely the over reaction and consequent complete banning of DDT, and possibly the sacred status of wetlands; both are generally left-of-center policies.
Insecticides are an effective and probably essential means of controlling disease carrying mosquitos, and DDT is a practical agent. It was horribly overused decades ago, but the reaction to its overuse was a near complete banning of the pesticide worldwide, which led to millions of eaths from malaria, and may have contributed to the emergence of Zika.
Wetlands are an essential part of global ecology, and must be protected. But wetlands are also the breeding grounds for mosquitos; control of wetlands helped bring yellow fever under control a century ago.
The point is not to encourage the abuse of DDT, or the inappropriate drainage of swampland. Rather, we should avoid partisan politics, and work to overcome a very serious public health problem. In the long run, it will probably be possible to develop an effective vaccine; Congress must support this. Big pharma will likely do much of the work, so let’s give them our support. Until a vaccine is developed, we will likely need mosquito control.
Our effort should be based on science, and not hampered by political name-calling.
Two factors which have contributed to the spread of Zika are likely the over reaction and consequent complete banning of DDT, and possibly the sacred status of wetlands; both are generally left-of-center policies.
Insecticides are an effective and probably essential means of controlling disease carrying mosquitos, and DDT is a practical agent. It was horribly overused decades ago, but the reaction to its overuse was a near complete banning of the pesticide worldwide, which led to millions of eaths from malaria, and may have contributed to the emergence of Zika.
Wetlands are an essential part of global ecology, and must be protected. But wetlands are also the breeding grounds for mosquitos; control of wetlands helped bring yellow fever under control a century ago.
The point is not to encourage the abuse of DDT, or the inappropriate drainage of swampland. Rather, we should avoid partisan politics, and work to overcome a very serious public health problem. In the long run, it will probably be possible to develop an effective vaccine; Congress must support this. Big pharma will likely do much of the work, so let’s give them our support. Until a vaccine is developed, we will likely need mosquito control.
Our effort should be based on science, and not hampered by political name-calling.
6
Dear Alex,
I agree that it's kind of disheartening that this is being made political when it's a straightforward biological problem. It may be true that the GOP seems to be against doing anything about this, but the Democrats haven't done anything much either, and in all likelihood there's nothing much that can be done.
Whatever gets done, we should not return to DDT or draining swamps. DDT kills off bird life, which wreaks havoc with the environment. Draining swamps also wreaks havoc with the environment. We should not destroy our environment to try to make things a little better for humans, because in the long run, that will result in the extinction of humans.
I agree that it's kind of disheartening that this is being made political when it's a straightforward biological problem. It may be true that the GOP seems to be against doing anything about this, but the Democrats haven't done anything much either, and in all likelihood there's nothing much that can be done.
Whatever gets done, we should not return to DDT or draining swamps. DDT kills off bird life, which wreaks havoc with the environment. Draining swamps also wreaks havoc with the environment. We should not destroy our environment to try to make things a little better for humans, because in the long run, that will result in the extinction of humans.
7
We seem to be unable to attain any sort of middle ground with what chemistry and medicine can offer us. Some DDT might be worth the gamble in limited circumstances. Most people would like not to worry about Zika, and, to like effect, would prefer to travel without worrying about bedbugs. But suggesting chemical intervention is likely to induce the wrath of the greens.
2
DDT isn't particularly effective on thse skeeters, swamp-draining isn't the issue because these guys have evolved to live in houses, outbuildings and yards, and left-wing ignirance doesn't help one darn bit.
6
Why wait for politicians to do anything, if you are living in an outbreak area buy insect repellant and avoid being bitten. If you are pregnant you can leave the area until the outbreak is over. If your fetus is affected then you can consider termination. There are logical steps one can take. The virus is harmless in almost all cases.
3
It's kind of difficult to just up and leave an area when you have a job and/or a family... Not everyone can afford to vacation somewhere for the duration of their pregnancy. And you're being pretty callous about the emotional fallout of a wanted baby being permanently damaged, regardless of whether the mother even thinks termination is an ethical choice. It's not like everyone is so fertile that they can just have another one. Nice for you to have the income, fertility, and geographic location that none of this is a personal concern - but federal politicians should care about everyone in the country, not just the lucky ones.
49
What are you talking about? Pregnant people should leave the area? Almost no one can just up and leave their job and family like that for nine months. And having an abortion of a much wanted child is not something that can be done so flippantly. What an insensitive and clueless comment.
10
The CDC told the House about the risks and predicted the spread of Zika in the US if nothing is done to prevent it. The Administration proposed a prevention program recommended by the CDC. Republican representatives wouldn't pass it or any funding to prevent Zika. Instead they left Washington DC to go campaign until after the election. The damaged brains and deaths of babies whose mothers are infected by Zika will be on their heads. Remember that when you vote.
27
Good thing we're not a Catholic country and can use birth control...
12
This a public health issue. Why is there such a political contamination to the discussion here. Some people just think think that throwing money solves problems. No there are organizations with experts and resources that are regularly well funded which are in place to deal with such situations that arise. The political conventions are over and it is time to put the nation over parties and politics
4
Those organizations which are "regularly well funded" specifically asked for incremental funding to cover Zika because their standard funding will not allow them to "deal with such situations."
This is political because the incremental funding must come from Congress.
This is political because the incremental funding must come from Congress.
18
Public health departments at the state and local level, which are the front line in any public health crisis--Zika included--are vastly underfunded, including in blue states. The "boots on the ground" local response is from the local area.
4
Name some organizations that are well funded. I would like names pleasr.
2
The US ascribes essentially no value to nipping any problem in the bud.
22
Wealthy Republicans don't care about this. They'll spray the hell out of their neighborhoods and if one of their own happens to become pregnant an abortion will be easily available. Working class Republicans will just follow along as lemmings, as they are prone to do.
33
MAJOR FEDERAL MONEY NOW before this spirals out of control. It's already accelerating at a blinding pace.
9
Unfortunately money won't stop it. We have no vaccine, there won't be any cure developed in our lifetimes, and we have never succeeded in driving mosquitoes extinct. We either learn to live with this, or we don't, but what we cannot do is get rid of it.
2
Dan, a DNA vaccine will go into Phase I in August. Unfortunately, with the time these trials take and the high hurdles the FDA has put up before it is approved for general use, it will be 2018 the earliest until we see it on the market.
2
I wouldn't be so pessimistic. There are already promising leads on Zika vaccine development, and antiviral drug development is growing. These take time, and funds, but are both very feasible.
2
Once again, Republican legislators are playing with our lives. First health care and now Zika! They haven't given Obama the funds he has requested for months, now they attach the funds to ridiculous items the president must not sign. VOTE THEM ALL OUT! WORK ON DEMOCRATIC CAMPAIGNS. Your life may depend on it.
54
I can't wait for January 2017. Hillary will clean up this mess. No more lead water, no more Zika.
Cue the advertisements for Senate and Congress. This ought to go over well with voters. More evidence that the GOP is "pro-life." In this case, they don't even care about fetuses. In fact, they are happy to destroy them.
15
The Republicans will "do something" about Zika--just the way they did about AIDS when it first came to the U.S.
53
Bush hugely increased AIDS funding!
1
John C,
I just have to assume you're not old enough to remember the Reagan administration. It was obvious at the time, and it remains obvious looking back, social conservatives and assorted homophobes considered AIDs as the 'solution' to 'ridding' the country of homosexuality. It was a horror show. And nothing changed until AIDS began to affect those outside the homosexual community. Even then, people (some, kids) who were affected were viewed with suspicion.
I just have to assume you're not old enough to remember the Reagan administration. It was obvious at the time, and it remains obvious looking back, social conservatives and assorted homophobes considered AIDs as the 'solution' to 'ridding' the country of homosexuality. It was a horror show. And nothing changed until AIDS began to affect those outside the homosexual community. Even then, people (some, kids) who were affected were viewed with suspicion.
8
Go back the early 80's, not the turn of the century for the response in the Reagan era. You are 20 years late in your comment.
3
And NOT A WORD about how the do-nothing Congress over G.O.P. control is insisting American women give up the right to contraception as the price for Republicans to fund Zika control.
Ms. Alvarez and Ms. Belluck, you are both pathetic!
And why is no one in the media asking Donald "I alone can save America" Trump what his plan is to save America from Zika?
This is Reagan and AIDS all over again...except much more serious.
Ms. Alvarez and Ms. Belluck, you are both pathetic!
And why is no one in the media asking Donald "I alone can save America" Trump what his plan is to save America from Zika?
This is Reagan and AIDS all over again...except much more serious.
21
This issue is extremely concerning. I read in The Atlantic (who cited The Lancet), that Zika virus infection can affect a fetus during any trimester of one's pregnancy - including the third trimester.
I was a young woman when rumors of a 'gay plague,' which turned out to be AIDS, began to circulate. The rumors turned out to be devastating truth. Because it initially seemed to affect a marginalized, demonized segment of our society, gay men, I believe our government under the Reagan administration chose a path of active inaction. I sincerely believe some thought the 'gay plague' would 'take care of' this population.
Unfortunately, I see similarities between the politics of early AIDS and Zika. I believe as long as it affected poor women in barrios, it could almost be written off by some as population control.
The legislative inaction on the issue of the risk of the Zika virus on public health is beyond repugnant. It is intentional. I would suggest, at least for the time being, the Republican Party slot Zika in in place of pornography in their platform. We need to put a stopwatch on Zika. We have public health structures in place. Sufficiently fund them, understanding time is of the essence.
I was a young woman when rumors of a 'gay plague,' which turned out to be AIDS, began to circulate. The rumors turned out to be devastating truth. Because it initially seemed to affect a marginalized, demonized segment of our society, gay men, I believe our government under the Reagan administration chose a path of active inaction. I sincerely believe some thought the 'gay plague' would 'take care of' this population.
Unfortunately, I see similarities between the politics of early AIDS and Zika. I believe as long as it affected poor women in barrios, it could almost be written off by some as population control.
The legislative inaction on the issue of the risk of the Zika virus on public health is beyond repugnant. It is intentional. I would suggest, at least for the time being, the Republican Party slot Zika in in place of pornography in their platform. We need to put a stopwatch on Zika. We have public health structures in place. Sufficiently fund them, understanding time is of the essence.
28
and . . . . our do-nothing congress is on vacation . . . .
13
The do-nothing G.O.P.-led Congress is on vacation.
Meanwhile Zika threatens an entire generation of children.
Well, at least maybe runaway gun violence has been addressed by the do-nothing G.O.P. Congress.
Trump-Putin 2016!
Make Russia Great Again!
Meanwhile Zika threatens an entire generation of children.
Well, at least maybe runaway gun violence has been addressed by the do-nothing G.O.P. Congress.
Trump-Putin 2016!
Make Russia Great Again!
14
It is too bad that Paul Ryan didn't care enough to keep the house in session to approve funding for Zika research.
23
But he did not.
4
All the Republicans and their families should be forced to live in Florida until they vote for funding Zika virus protections. They are always touting their bravery. Well, let's see how brave they really are.
28
I dunno Phil, aren't their brains small enough as it is?
12
Apparently not.
4
Dan, your replies to comments are noteable in that they are reasonably set forth - and you've got a good sense of humor, too!
1
The hypocritical Republicans who tried to link Zika research funding with their twisted anti-civil and medical rights legislation need to be voted out of office, people. As we heard this week, don't complain, VOTE!
33
A bizarre set of allegations.
It's not an allegation. The Republicans loaded the Zika funding bill with a poison pill knowing it would not be approved. The poison pill - no free birth control paid for by insurance in 11 southern states.
1
And the Republican Congress continues to do nothing. Trump is not the only one in that party with mental disorders.
21
I’m curious how much Florida spends on public health. Florida is known as a low tax state. Maybe it should be doing more to protect its residents before expecting a big handout from the federal government.
41
Florida is a Republican, Donald Trump-like paradise. Haven't you heard?
7
Oh, I know. I was being sarcastic. These Republican run states love to brag about their low taxes, but when disaster strikes come to Uncle Sam with their hands out.
12
Nothing good will happen for working folks till we elect a more humanistic governor (and a different senator).
10
The Republican Congress has ignored months and months of warnings and refused to provide the funds public health officials have been begging for to prevent this.
By ignoring and ridiculing science, and treating this, like so many other serious problems, like a political game, Republicans have loudly declared they are unfit to govern.
Please, everyone, get out to vote for Democrats up and down the ticket.
You may disagree with this or that policy, but the astounding level of immaturity of today's Republican party must be given a "time out" from being in positions of power.
By ignoring and ridiculing science, and treating this, like so many other serious problems, like a political game, Republicans have loudly declared they are unfit to govern.
Please, everyone, get out to vote for Democrats up and down the ticket.
You may disagree with this or that policy, but the astounding level of immaturity of today's Republican party must be given a "time out" from being in positions of power.
126
Somebody whose opinions I respect enormously for years has been saying the world will not blow up or be destroyed by war, but rather humanity will be wiped out by a virus. Zika is not it, of course, but viruses are quite adaptable and eventually will figure out how to get all of us.
10
Dear Rodger,
While it is quite possible that a large outbreak of a virus like Ebola or the flu will slay a vast number of humans, there is very little chance of a virus eliminating all of us. There are always people with immunity, and those who live through it, and no virus yet has come close to a 100% fatality rate.
Also viruses wouldn't want that either (not that they 'want' anything really). Their existence depends on a host organism, so if they kill all the hosts, they cease to exist too.
While it is quite possible that a large outbreak of a virus like Ebola or the flu will slay a vast number of humans, there is very little chance of a virus eliminating all of us. There are always people with immunity, and those who live through it, and no virus yet has come close to a 100% fatality rate.
Also viruses wouldn't want that either (not that they 'want' anything really). Their existence depends on a host organism, so if they kill all the hosts, they cease to exist too.
4
I think we should privatize the HHS department to The Trump Organization, so they can quickly get vaccines out to all the billionaires in the area!
14
Zika, like Ebola, SARS, MERS, Avian flu, Hantavirus, and many other viral diseases is "airborne": it can be spread by coughing, sneezing, spitting, kissing, sex, mosquito bites (and likely ticks and bedbugs), eating food contaminated by a diseased person, and other "casual" contact, as opposed to direct sexual, bite or blood contact needed to transmit HIV, viral hepatitis, HPV, genital herpes, syphilis, and rabies (though there is evidence that rabies can be transmitted via the air in close quarters, e.g. in caves). Because Zika and Ebola are spread so easily and quickly, they could quickly become epidemic in any given area. All it takes is ONE infected person to start the epidemic. I suggest quarantining anyone suspected of having Zika or Ebola for at least 30 days, until the immune system can suppress the virus enough to lower the risk of transmission. In the case of HIV and syphilis, the period right after initial infection, when "primary" symptoms occur, is highly contagious, then the immune system suppresses HIV to a much lower level and the risk of transmission is very low. People with HIV or other immune-system compromising conditions are at higher risk for other diseases.
2
Ridiculous. Zika is a mild virus where most people have few or no symptoms so how can a quarantine strategy do anything? Why is there such an over reaction to this virus?
Preggers are the only ones that need to be worried. Just avoid pregnancy until the outbreak is over if you live in a location with an outbreak. Florida has been aware of this for months. A few babies might be affected, but that is no reason to squander money on this virus haphazzardly. There are worse epidemics affecting babies these days such as autism.
Preggers are the only ones that need to be worried. Just avoid pregnancy until the outbreak is over if you live in a location with an outbreak. Florida has been aware of this for months. A few babies might be affected, but that is no reason to squander money on this virus haphazzardly. There are worse epidemics affecting babies these days such as autism.
Any proposal to fight Zika that involves quarantining infected individuals may be sound as a public health approach but is dead on arrival. The quarantined individuals would disproportionately be immigrants and foreigners, therefore the federal government will not allow any approach that infringes on the rights of these protected classes. Political correctness and a desire not offend anyone has trumped sound public health policy for some time now.
1
Gary - Where on earth did you get the idea that Zika is airborne? The mosquitos fly through the air, yes, but the virus does not.
So far, transmission has only been demonstrated through mosquito bites, sex, and possibly blood and body fluid (the person caring for their sick relative).
So far, transmission has only been demonstrated through mosquito bites, sex, and possibly blood and body fluid (the person caring for their sick relative).
11
This is really bad news. Recently heard mosquitoes described as "flying hypodermics." Wish I had never heard that, but it is apt.
Stand by for lots of bureaucratic hemming and hawing and, as a consequence, lots more illness and fretful pregnancies.
Stand by for lots of bureaucratic hemming and hawing and, as a consequence, lots more illness and fretful pregnancies.
10
Not a big fan of Hillary.
But if Trump becomes president, "you ain't seen nothing yet!"
But if Trump becomes president, "you ain't seen nothing yet!"
4
Um, have no idea why you need to stump for Hillary here.
2
What a surprise!!! Everyone with a brain knew it would arrive in the US and infect our mosquitos which would then infect us.
As the West Nile Virus did, soon Zika will be well established in the US.
As the West Nile Virus did, soon Zika will be well established in the US.
14
Dear Esp,
Certainly, but as you point out, West Nile has become well established in the U.S., and in 2013 (the latest year I could find statistics) the death toll nationwide was 119. Compared to smoking, cars, guns, and things like that, the West Nile casualty rate is insignificant. And Zika isn't even fatal, so this is really not as big a deal as some would think.
Certainly, but as you point out, West Nile has become well established in the U.S., and in 2013 (the latest year I could find statistics) the death toll nationwide was 119. Compared to smoking, cars, guns, and things like that, the West Nile casualty rate is insignificant. And Zika isn't even fatal, so this is really not as big a deal as some would think.
1
Not a big deal to you because you're not trying to get pregnant. Think about it.
5
It is just nature. Americans are the biggest cry babies. Protect yourselves with insect repellant.
2
We all have Congressional representatives. I hope that all the commenters here, most of whom wrote highly articulate, reasoned notes about what Congress should have done, were on the phone this morning with their representatives' offices.
13
Good idea! We in Our Nation's Capital do not have such persons. We do have Ms. Norton, however, who has done more than able service for many too thankless years. Time to get on the phone....
4
Write or call your Congressional Representative right now - as I just did. Don't just rant on Comments sections - do something.
37
The G.O.P. has made it clear. The price to pay for Zika funding is stripping women of their right to contraception. The deformed babies being born as a result of the G.O.P. Trumpista policy? Not Trump, Ryan or McConnell's problem. And the Dems aren't doing much to bring this up either.
9
@Jay Havens
RE "If Paul Ryan is reading this, he needs to call the House back into emergency session to grapple with this natural disaster."
Fat chance of that. Paul Ryan sets the example of remarkably crass politics. His mealymouthed plea for civility in politics rings hollow when he himself was an active member of a group of senior GOP leaders who in 2009 met during Obama's inauguration to plot to sabotage his presidency. These senior GOP members strategized to bring congress to a standstill regardless how much it would hurt the economy by pledging to obstruct and block Obama on all legislation. This skullduggery emerged into a GOP party of "NO" where the extreme acrimony of the current absurd political theatre took root. Ryan is a shameful and shameless hypocrite.
RE "If Paul Ryan is reading this, he needs to call the House back into emergency session to grapple with this natural disaster."
Fat chance of that. Paul Ryan sets the example of remarkably crass politics. His mealymouthed plea for civility in politics rings hollow when he himself was an active member of a group of senior GOP leaders who in 2009 met during Obama's inauguration to plot to sabotage his presidency. These senior GOP members strategized to bring congress to a standstill regardless how much it would hurt the economy by pledging to obstruct and block Obama on all legislation. This skullduggery emerged into a GOP party of "NO" where the extreme acrimony of the current absurd political theatre took root. Ryan is a shameful and shameless hypocrite.
64
And so, it has begun. Essentially anyone who is pregnant (or who may become pregnant) is going to have to seriously consider not travelling, living, or working in Florida (and eventually the whole South?). How is this not an emergency deserving of immediate Manhattan-project style funding? Babies born with microcephaly are *never* going to recover, and the cost of lifetime care is bound to be astronomical. Both Republicans and Democrats need to bury their hatchets and get to work, stat.
156
Have no fear, the states will support those babies in some sort of substandard condition.
7
Ha, ha, ha.
No aborting fetuses is evil, as is paying taxes to support crippled babies.
Our next president Donald Trump thinks the disables and even POWs and vets living homeless in the street are worthy of his contempt.
No aborting fetuses is evil, as is paying taxes to support crippled babies.
Our next president Donald Trump thinks the disables and even POWs and vets living homeless in the street are worthy of his contempt.
11
"Essentially anyone who is pregnant (or who may become pregnant) "
or may have sex with such a person
or may have sex with such a person
1
Any child who is born with the effects of this disease should be named after the republicans in the House who refused to allocate funds for this. "Grover" would also be a good choice.
I realize that this is a heartbreaking human tragedy, but those that might have acted to raise minimal defenses against it must be held to account.
I realize that this is a heartbreaking human tragedy, but those that might have acted to raise minimal defenses against it must be held to account.
26
It's coming folks ... true to form the GOP is going to blame Obama for this.
And why not, they've blamed him everything including the fact that since 2010 the GOP-dominated House has done absolutely nothing except pass lots of anti-abortion measures. The 112th, the 113th and now the 114th congress’s, that have endured unceasing obstruction led by Boehner/Ryan in the House and McConnell in the Senate, are the most shameful, lowest rated and least effective in US history
And why not, they've blamed him everything including the fact that since 2010 the GOP-dominated House has done absolutely nothing except pass lots of anti-abortion measures. The 112th, the 113th and now the 114th congress’s, that have endured unceasing obstruction led by Boehner/Ryan in the House and McConnell in the Senate, are the most shameful, lowest rated and least effective in US history
56
And congress goes on a SEVEN WEEK vacation without funding the $1.9 billion that the CDC begged for to research the Zika virus! Now we are seeing tansmission NOT just through mother to fetus but sexually AND a son caring for his dying father in Utah contracted the Zika virus! Is it mutating? we know practically nothing about this virus.
The GOP put in a poison pill (Defund Planned Parenthood!) and some GOP “geniuses” said to take it out of the ebola fund! Sure ebola’s gone..NOT!
We can’t do research without funding! So here we are! Summer. When the mosquitoes are at their worst.
The problem is that if the GOP reps transmit Zika to their children and the babies are born with small brains, blind, and small headed--you couldn’t tell the difference with this “subgroup” of GOP reps!
The GOP put in a poison pill (Defund Planned Parenthood!) and some GOP “geniuses” said to take it out of the ebola fund! Sure ebola’s gone..NOT!
We can’t do research without funding! So here we are! Summer. When the mosquitoes are at their worst.
The problem is that if the GOP reps transmit Zika to their children and the babies are born with small brains, blind, and small headed--you couldn’t tell the difference with this “subgroup” of GOP reps!
50
The cure for Zika virus and other causes of brain disease? Stop dumping infectious waste on open land like it's fertilizer. The Zika virus has more to do with mismanaged, highly infectious sewage than it does the mosquitoes that feed and breed in it. This infectious waste is contaminating food, water and air around the world. It's no wonder that brain disease is the fastest-growing cause of death in the world. http://crossbowcommunications.com/land-application-of-sewage-sludge-spre...
6
We need to be proactive in our global fight against Zika. This is not just a South American or Central American disease. It will leak to everywhere and we need to plan. Hopefully, our media will use the Olympics to educate everyone about this looming threat. Below is an NYT Video showcasing a group of scientists being proactive, planting a certain type of mosquito to stop the spread of Zika. We need more of this in every state.
http://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000004459613/enlisting-mosquitoe...
http://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000004459613/enlisting-mosquitoe...
12
Next up: the CDC, Red Cross, et. all ask for hundreds of billions of dollars to fund their bloated bureaucracy and use the disease as cover. Get ready Americans to be bled dry.
7
Obviously, the remedy for this situation is another GOP-inspired huge tax cut for the wealthiest Americans.
74
I know, right. Public health; what a poor excuse for government spending.
112
Actually, what will cost hundreds of billions of dollars is dealing with all the life-long damage done by the Zika virus for all those affected. If Republicans had responded to the modest funding request to stop this many moths ago it would have cost far less--- prevention is so such less expensive than dealing with the aftermath
But like most anti-science Republicans, my guess is that you don't consider this a problem yet, or at least, they don't consider it a problem until, weak and hospitalized, they start yelling that the Obama administration did nothing to prevent this
But like most anti-science Republicans, my guess is that you don't consider this a problem yet, or at least, they don't consider it a problem until, weak and hospitalized, they start yelling that the Obama administration did nothing to prevent this
86
If you can find a way to inject corporate profit into the solution, you'll get the funding.
22
If this truly is the 'Canary in the Coal Mine' the Congress must act now. If Paul Ryan is reading this, he needs to call the House back into emergency session to grapple with this natural disaster. If this starts an epidemic, EVERYONE needs to lay this firmly at the feet of the Republican House of Representatives and Paul Ryan specifically. There is simply no excuse not to protect the lives of the American people.
99
Agreed. esp with it being a tourist destination.
10
The response from the GOP will be "we offered a bill for over a billion dollars to fight Zika and the Democrats didn't accept because we wouldn't include pork for Planned Parenthood. It's their fault, not ours."
4
The Republicans claim to be on the side of the unborn when they fight against abortions. But they walked away from protecting the unborn from the devastating effects of the zika virus. Such hypocrites.
241
On the edge of my seat waiting to hear the Republican position on abortion of Zika microcephalic fetuses.
26
Was it DJT who suggested criminal charges if a woman has an abortion?
9
@RT
And it’s just not the “unborn” (What bizarre wording??) who can be affected.
A man in Utah died of the Zika virus and his caretaker son was infected with the virus,,HOW?? Bodily fluids as ebola is transmitted? We’re just beginning to see that the virus is transmitted from mom to fetus, sexual relations-man giving the virus to women and recently a case where the woman gave a man the virus!
Is the virus mutating? Is it found in more than one type of mosquito? The CDC has been saying that the only species of mosquito to carry this virus is the Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus mosquito. But Florida isn’t finding ANY mosquitos with the virus!
Next month the USA is sending hundreds of healthy young athletes to the Olympics in Rio--“party central” for the Zika virus. (I apologize for seeming to be cavalier--I’m not--this is frightening for every MD and scientist.) And what we know well is that these athletes are VERY sexually active..crowded together in these Olympic villages. The USA medical team/trainers provide readily available boxes of condoms.
But IF the virus IS transmitted by bodily fluids such as vomit or diarrhea we are in trouble!
Right NOW the CDC needs that $1.9 billion! For me and my colleagues it makes sense to pull congress back in and get that funding NOW! They did it in 2005 for one person, Terri Schiavo. Let’s do it now for the entire population! I just keep thinking of other quickly mutating viruses--such as HIV and ebola.
#DoYourJob
And it’s just not the “unborn” (What bizarre wording??) who can be affected.
A man in Utah died of the Zika virus and his caretaker son was infected with the virus,,HOW?? Bodily fluids as ebola is transmitted? We’re just beginning to see that the virus is transmitted from mom to fetus, sexual relations-man giving the virus to women and recently a case where the woman gave a man the virus!
Is the virus mutating? Is it found in more than one type of mosquito? The CDC has been saying that the only species of mosquito to carry this virus is the Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus mosquito. But Florida isn’t finding ANY mosquitos with the virus!
Next month the USA is sending hundreds of healthy young athletes to the Olympics in Rio--“party central” for the Zika virus. (I apologize for seeming to be cavalier--I’m not--this is frightening for every MD and scientist.) And what we know well is that these athletes are VERY sexually active..crowded together in these Olympic villages. The USA medical team/trainers provide readily available boxes of condoms.
But IF the virus IS transmitted by bodily fluids such as vomit or diarrhea we are in trouble!
Right NOW the CDC needs that $1.9 billion! For me and my colleagues it makes sense to pull congress back in and get that funding NOW! They did it in 2005 for one person, Terri Schiavo. Let’s do it now for the entire population! I just keep thinking of other quickly mutating viruses--such as HIV and ebola.
#DoYourJob
6
Like the Flint water supply, nothing will be done until reaches tragic proportions.
132
@No Haymarket,
No. Nothing will be done until it affects wealthy white people.
It wasn’t until a young white heterosexual boy, Ryan White, contracted HIV, then full blown AIDS from a blood transfusion that attention was FINALLY given to the AIDS epidemic in the mid 1980s. He died in April 1990, one month before his high school graduation and only months before Congress passed the legislation bearing his name in August 1990 - the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act.
After gay men had been dying by the thousands since ~1981 and Reagan refusing to SAY the words HIV or AIDS until 1987, it took the death of a white teenager from Indiana to spur Congress into action!
Not even the death of Reagan’s supposed fellow actor friend Rock Hudson in 1985 spurred Reagan into doing something...because Hudson “turned out” to be gay. Reagan could NOT deal with this handsome hunk of a man--Hudson being gay! Oh the horror!!
So until the right demographic is infected nothing will be done. It’s in our history.
No. Nothing will be done until it affects wealthy white people.
It wasn’t until a young white heterosexual boy, Ryan White, contracted HIV, then full blown AIDS from a blood transfusion that attention was FINALLY given to the AIDS epidemic in the mid 1980s. He died in April 1990, one month before his high school graduation and only months before Congress passed the legislation bearing his name in August 1990 - the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act.
After gay men had been dying by the thousands since ~1981 and Reagan refusing to SAY the words HIV or AIDS until 1987, it took the death of a white teenager from Indiana to spur Congress into action!
Not even the death of Reagan’s supposed fellow actor friend Rock Hudson in 1985 spurred Reagan into doing something...because Hudson “turned out” to be gay. Reagan could NOT deal with this handsome hunk of a man--Hudson being gay! Oh the horror!!
So until the right demographic is infected nothing will be done. It’s in our history.
7
And Congress graciously does not approve funding in advance of a potential health hazard because it wishes to embarrass the Obama administration which foresaw the danger and asked fir money to combat it. Another Congressional stick in the eye if the public where health is concerned. Of course, these lawmakers and their families are gifted with gold-plated health care, all on the public dime, naturally. Socialism run amok.
Thanks, GOP, for having our backs.
Thanks, GOP, for having our backs.
127
@soxared040713
The Zika virus isn’t aware of gold-plated health care. Mosquitoes bite EVERYONE--insurance or not. And NO insurance can provide ANY health care that can stop a fetus from being malformed or stop a person from becoming paralyzed after being infected by the Zika virus.
That’s why we need national funding so that the CDC can get a handle on this virus and start preparing protection via vaccine and proper protocols for dealing with ill patients. How do we screen for the virus? Who get screened? We need to DEVELOP accurate quick screening tests!
Only the CDC can do this. That’s how all our vaccines and disease protocols are done--by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta,GA.
Ever wonder why the CDC is in Atlanta? Not in DC or NY? That’s because our FIRST diseases in the US were spread by mosquitoes (think-malaria and digging the Panama Canal!)and mosquitoes are plentiful in the deep south..ego-Atlanta!
The Zika virus isn’t aware of gold-plated health care. Mosquitoes bite EVERYONE--insurance or not. And NO insurance can provide ANY health care that can stop a fetus from being malformed or stop a person from becoming paralyzed after being infected by the Zika virus.
That’s why we need national funding so that the CDC can get a handle on this virus and start preparing protection via vaccine and proper protocols for dealing with ill patients. How do we screen for the virus? Who get screened? We need to DEVELOP accurate quick screening tests!
Only the CDC can do this. That’s how all our vaccines and disease protocols are done--by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta,GA.
Ever wonder why the CDC is in Atlanta? Not in DC or NY? That’s because our FIRST diseases in the US were spread by mosquitoes (think-malaria and digging the Panama Canal!)and mosquitoes are plentiful in the deep south..ego-Atlanta!
5
These Zika cases in Florida are alarming and the spread should be contained. The centers for disease control and the mosquito control squad should get into action and all measures to prevent spread of the virus should be deployed.
20
Malaria is also transmitted by biting mosquitoes and has posed millennnial-long threats throughout most of the US, the Rocky Mountain States excepted. However, there has been no major effort to combat this threat since the late nineteenth century.
1
Malaria is not a disease one can contact in the US, at least not know. The number of outbreaks of Malaria are few and have always come from tourists returning from countries where the disease is prevalent.
Yes there has. DDT was sprayed EVERYWHERE between 1948 and 1979. That pretty much wiped out malarial mosquitoes in the US. And nearly led to the extinction of numerous bird species, as well as countless, nameless other things.
5
In February 2016, President Obama requested funding to combat this epidemic. A GOP-led Congress refused unless Planned Parenthood was defunded. Congress is now on a long summer recess with no funding provided to fight Zika.
Isn't it time that voters gave the Democratic Party control of Congress?
Isn't it time that voters gave the Democratic Party control of Congress?
276
Lets be clear the republicans in the house of representative are more interested in defunding planned parenthood than sparing our nation from a Zika epidemic. Don't forget the republican house only provided about half the funding that president Obama asked for. If there is a Zika epidemic billions upon billions of dollars will be required to solved the problem. Penny wise and dollar poor - just like the government shut down. As always with the house of representatives in the recent past the national welfare always plays second fiddle to political self interest.
83
Also, if a pregnant woman contracts Zika, she may be more likely to want an abortion. While we should not be defunding Planned Parenthood in general, now is an even worse time!
25
When one of the GOP-led Congress people gets the Zika virus or one of their family members get the virus they will do something. We have to get these hateful GOPERS out of office.
5