I dont understand why this article states that " Zika virus has mild or negligible effects in most people". This statment is decepitively missleading. Zika has been known to cause nerve damage in people sometimes leading to Guillain-Barre. There has also been a recent study published that showed it also can target adult brain's nerve cells and lead to subtle shifts in personalities amongst other things. The CDC director is qouted as saying "There's a lot we don't know about Zika,". Until recently HPV was thought to only affect woman. Now it is known to be a leading cause in throat mouth and anal cancers as well as penile cancer. Maybe a better statement would be the Zika's effect on non pregnant individuals is still unkown.
8
The Zika virus can cause severe birth defects — most notably microcephaly, a condition characterized by an abnormally small head and often incomplete brain development. The virus also has been linked to cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome in adults, a rare autoimmune disorder that can result in paralysis and even death.
Now, in a study in mice, researchers have found evidence that suggests adult brain cells critical to learning and memory also might be susceptible to the Zika virus.
More research will be necessary to see whether the results of the mouse model translates to humans, and whether the damage to adult brain cells can cause long-term neurological damage or affect behavior.
The initial findings suggest that the Zika virus may not be as innocuous as it seems for adults, most of whom never realize they have been infected. Researchers found that infected mice had more cell death in their brains and reduced generation of new neurons, which is key to learning and memory. The possible consequences of damaged neural progenitor cells in humans would include cognitive problems and a higher likelihood for conditions such as depression and Alzheimer’s disease.
Now, in a study in mice, researchers have found evidence that suggests adult brain cells critical to learning and memory also might be susceptible to the Zika virus.
More research will be necessary to see whether the results of the mouse model translates to humans, and whether the damage to adult brain cells can cause long-term neurological damage or affect behavior.
The initial findings suggest that the Zika virus may not be as innocuous as it seems for adults, most of whom never realize they have been infected. Researchers found that infected mice had more cell death in their brains and reduced generation of new neurons, which is key to learning and memory. The possible consequences of damaged neural progenitor cells in humans would include cognitive problems and a higher likelihood for conditions such as depression and Alzheimer’s disease.
4
Guess we are not going to see Hope Solo at Miami Beach then...
1
Build a wall around Florida. Puerto Rico, too.
1
A big mosquito net would suffice and it would be cheaper.
When, approximately, did the Zika virus invade Rick Scott's brain?
11
I love your comment and have fowarded it to others.
Much ado about nothing, unless one is pregnant or trying to become pregnant. My first thought when the media (which is the 4th branch of our government) blows a "crisis" out of proportion is that the they are trying to distract us from something more nefarious that is happening in the background.
3
Require all Republican House and Senate members who have blocked funding for Zika response to caucus in Miami from this date on.
We will see some action then.
We will see some action then.
4
Thank you to our useless Congress and Senate! If it weren't for your lack of support, the CDC and other federal, state, and local agencies may have been able to address this situation back in March. GREAT JOB, REPUBLICANS!!!! Every Republican in the House and Senate should be embarrassed and ashamed. I guess if it didn't hit their backyard, it doesn't matter. Vote blue so this doesn't happen to another community needlessly!
8
When we moved to Miami Beach in 1950 the mosquitoes were so thick, with one swipe of a net you could have enough mosquitoes for a BBQ. We were bit thousands of times a year and we survived. A friend caught Dengue fever in Colombia when he went to the farm country. Zika is all around us here in Florida, and the pregnant women have something to be concerned about. How they can protect themselves is a good question, and for the rest of us, whatever will be will be. Live Live Live
2
I don't know if you want to publish this comment. I've been reading for sometime that the Zika virus may have different causes. Why not investigate and report on this? You do know people are more informed and actually read more than one news source in todays agenda driven reporting.
https://geopolitics.co/2016/01/30/whos-behind-the-zika-virus-outbreak-fe...
https://geopolitics.co/2016/01/30/whos-behind-the-zika-virus-outbreak-fe...
1
We need to build a screen across our southern border and get Mexico to pay for it.
6
Speaking as a physician, I am disappointed, even appalled, when political or commercial considerations take precedence over public health and safety. A few cases of Zika in Miami are only the early warning. Unlike Ebola (which prompted exaggerated and fear based over-responses even though extensive domestic spread was highly, highly unlikely) Zika's spread within the Southern USA is almost inevitable. Somewhat like Ebola infection can have devastating consequences. Here and now proactive public health action can be very beneficial, reassuring, and minimize spread. Leadership by responsible public health officials have been curtailed by a culture that places commercial and political values above safety. It is ironic that Republican ideology has denied climate change, impaired women's access to health services, not expanded Medicaid, and prevented needed funding for Zika control only to have the first most potential negative effects of these ill considered policies focus on their homeboy, Rick Scott's state of Florida. Let's hope adults and wise medical professionals can take charge and exert leadership before too long and before Zika becomes explosive as it has in Puerto Rico
7
They are using, and thinking, the same old, universal, mindset of assuming the citizens are illiterate, ignorant and too stupid to act appropriately. The government officials are controlling information to "prevent a panic". It's like that everywhere. Whenever there is a major public health crisis it is usually caused, and exacerbated, by the stated motive of avoiding a panic. It betrays a condescending, patronizing attitude about the citizenry. The government always ends up lying to the public.
5
That we are simultaneously wringing our hands over Zika in Miami while clapping our hands over the Olympics in Rio - the very epicenter of this growing epidemic - is beyond belief. What is wrong with us?
1
How soon will Zika hit Orlando? And how fast will it spread from there? Maybe the corporate interests in Orlando can spur the Republicans in state and federal government to decisive action.
3
Still no money from the GOP.
1
This whole scenario is ridiculous! It is the same thing that has happened in Puerto Rico with travel warnings that has impacted our tourist business dramatically...and for what? We are not down here swatting mosquitos, nor are we slathering on insect repellent...we don't know anyone who has Zika...but it has cost us millions of dollars in canceled reservations across this island. These mosquitos are everywhere! They are not concentrated in Puerto Rico or Miami...they are EVERYWHERE! So why pick on a few places to avoid? If they are in Miami, they are going to be in Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Orlando, not to mention Jacksonville and the panhandle. Why don't we just shut down the whole state? Of course, the next thing we are going to hear is that they are in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia and working their way up to South Carolina...then what? Maybe you should just all stay home and huddle in fear...until the media storm abates...
1
Our despicable Congresscritters have done nothing to help, but do have suggestions to make this worse. If the Feds want to fund Zika research, pay for it by defunding Planned Parenthood. The fact that Planned Parenthood is the only low cost source of health care, vaccinations, birth control, and abortion in many poor communities not only doesn't make a dent, it is exactly the point.
Poor women and women of color shouldn't have sex.
Congress won't take any serious steps to fix this mess until one of thing happens: fine white girls--about whom they do care--pop put mentally retarded babies. Then, they'll be interested.
Poor women and women of color shouldn't have sex.
Congress won't take any serious steps to fix this mess until one of thing happens: fine white girls--about whom they do care--pop put mentally retarded babies. Then, they'll be interested.
3
Non event unless your pregnant......tiresome subject.
1
Perhaps the Republicans in Congress would act on Zika if they could be made responsible for the upbringing of every child affected. This could be extended to cover the children born as a result of women being denied an abortion. It might just make them conscious of the damage they are doing.
2
The Ziki carrying mosquito is this summer's Jaws. And just as the town officials boo hooed the presence of a killer shark - and what that would do to the economy dependent on visitors - so too the Miami and Miami Beach officials will do all in their power to minimize the actual threat from Ziki. Advice: don't believe anything they state - it'll all be self-serving.
2
Oxitec before it's too late.
Quite a few posters here have the mindset that a faction of government (looks like in this case, it is Conservatives) is responsible for making your individual decisions of what to do with yourself. While accusing the government of putting its head in the sand, so are you - about statistics and populations. The government uses set guidelines that takes whole populations into account. That is different from taking individuals into account. You have the responsibility to take your personal safety into account and decide for yourself and your family what is best for you. Do not forget that deer, dogs, snakes, rodents, and many insects actually kill people on a regular basis. Do you wait until your Governor, Senator, or President declares an emergency, or do you regularly take precautions without waiting for permission? I live in Florida, nowhere near the Miami area, and receive regular updates through public information channels about precautions and where not to travel. I urge those of you in other States to regularly access the CDC (Center for Disease Control - US Department of Health and Human Services). If you did, you would not only get data-based, regularly-updated information about Zika, you might also discover other diseases that you could blame on whichever faction of Congress that you do not like. My suggestion: eliminate food-borne illness by first blaming it on Republicans. Yeah, that makes sense.
Zika infection may affect adult brain cells
New findings suggest risk may not be limited to fetuses of pregnant women
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160818131134.htm
New findings suggest risk may not be limited to fetuses of pregnant women
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160818131134.htm
4
Senator Rubio, your Republican Party attached a poison Planned Parenthood pill to the clean Democratic Zika bill, and killed any chance of it being accepted by the Democrats. And at the worst possible time, wouldn't you say? BTW, you likely have also noticed that sewers in Miami have been disgorging sea water of late. Things are certainly heating up down there, aren't they?
9
"All this zika stuff is a buncha hooey! Government should not be in the business of peoples' health and well being!! Let the free markets sort it out—we're on Summer Recess! "
—GOP
—GOP
6
Hey GOP congress, thanks for voting against money to fight this virus. I don't know how you guys sleep at night.
6
Excerpt: From Pinecrest Bans Sumpland
https://pinecrestbanssumpland.blogspot.com
A Zika Story: Sump, Floods, Bugs
... Could you imagine the nightmare of living along side a Zika breeding ground, waking up to a sludge lake or a flood? I’m seeing the new mansion owner holed up inside, his expression of disbelief, eyes fixated on an expansive side yard holding tank.
Next up will be a censorious parade of attorneys in courtrooms, scurrilous blabber for mortar and glass. Lawsuits like candy.
What I couldn’t afford, someone else can, and will.
I again ask City when a positive drainage system is coming our way, its been a mighty long while and Zika and Hurricane Season 2016 a given. There is no answer. Instead Pinecrest attacks, implies I am an unreliable narrator.
An unreliable narrator? A fibber? That’s a low blow, a hit to my integrity for Pete’s sake!
The evidence posted on Pinecrest Floods is frightening, ghastly.
OMG: Floods, bugs: diseased insects. Ultrasonic demons charging helter-skelter, a barrage of tube-mouthed thirsty flying monsters batting their wings. Hollywood’s B-rated catastrophic enviro-themed movie set in a drowning South Florida. Overused pesticides. Mutant mosquitoes. Blood-sucking females. Gamma-irradiated males.
A feeding frenzy, rampages — Pinecrest center stage for a disaster flick, the malign effects of climate change abetted by greed.
*
https://pinecrestfloods.blogspot.com/
https://pinecrestbanssumpland.blogspot.com/
https://pinecrestbanssumpland.blogspot.com
A Zika Story: Sump, Floods, Bugs
... Could you imagine the nightmare of living along side a Zika breeding ground, waking up to a sludge lake or a flood? I’m seeing the new mansion owner holed up inside, his expression of disbelief, eyes fixated on an expansive side yard holding tank.
Next up will be a censorious parade of attorneys in courtrooms, scurrilous blabber for mortar and glass. Lawsuits like candy.
What I couldn’t afford, someone else can, and will.
I again ask City when a positive drainage system is coming our way, its been a mighty long while and Zika and Hurricane Season 2016 a given. There is no answer. Instead Pinecrest attacks, implies I am an unreliable narrator.
An unreliable narrator? A fibber? That’s a low blow, a hit to my integrity for Pete’s sake!
The evidence posted on Pinecrest Floods is frightening, ghastly.
OMG: Floods, bugs: diseased insects. Ultrasonic demons charging helter-skelter, a barrage of tube-mouthed thirsty flying monsters batting their wings. Hollywood’s B-rated catastrophic enviro-themed movie set in a drowning South Florida. Overused pesticides. Mutant mosquitoes. Blood-sucking females. Gamma-irradiated males.
A feeding frenzy, rampages — Pinecrest center stage for a disaster flick, the malign effects of climate change abetted by greed.
*
https://pinecrestfloods.blogspot.com/
https://pinecrestbanssumpland.blogspot.com/
So Senator Rubio, your thoughts?
4
Senator Rubio feels that all lives are critically important, until they are born, after which time, they can dangle in the wind.
3
Zika transmission?
Big deal. Because of republican cuts to Florida's Health Dept. HIV and syphilis transmission is up 500% in the last five years.
The State's Environmental Agency just INCREASED the amount of toxic poison that can be dumped, for free, into Florida waters.
Big Sugar is still being subsidized by US taxpayers to produce and spread toxic green algae which kills sea turtle's, dolphins, manatee's, fin fish, shell fish and sea grass by the megaton.
Alligators are lopping off hands and the stray neglected child at Disney.
Burmese pythons, breeding like rats in the Glades are eating the alligators.
Rebounding American Crocodiles are nabbing and eating Golden Retrievers off the docks in Key Largo.
And, the entire place is going under from man made climate change and rising sea levels.
Come on down!
Big deal. Because of republican cuts to Florida's Health Dept. HIV and syphilis transmission is up 500% in the last five years.
The State's Environmental Agency just INCREASED the amount of toxic poison that can be dumped, for free, into Florida waters.
Big Sugar is still being subsidized by US taxpayers to produce and spread toxic green algae which kills sea turtle's, dolphins, manatee's, fin fish, shell fish and sea grass by the megaton.
Alligators are lopping off hands and the stray neglected child at Disney.
Burmese pythons, breeding like rats in the Glades are eating the alligators.
Rebounding American Crocodiles are nabbing and eating Golden Retrievers off the docks in Key Largo.
And, the entire place is going under from man made climate change and rising sea levels.
Come on down!
16
Florida is one of the first states that will go down due to climate change. Why anyone would choose to live there is beyond me.
2
Carl Hiaasen has been writing about all of these issues occurring in Florida for years (Big Sugar, limb-eating alligators, pythons and mosquitoes?) ....we just thought it was fiction.
3
Rose
For starters, the ocean this time of the year is 86 degrees and gin clear, unlike like the 50 degrees and cloudy at Cannon Beach, Florence or Yachats.
Cloudy days here are a treat unlike the nine months of gray, cold mist I lived thru in Bluejean getting my degrees at the U of Orygun.
In this orchard I can pick lychees, mango's and avocados. We grow tomatoes in the winter, the only time it goes below 70, which is necessary for a bud to set.
For starters, the ocean this time of the year is 86 degrees and gin clear, unlike like the 50 degrees and cloudy at Cannon Beach, Florence or Yachats.
Cloudy days here are a treat unlike the nine months of gray, cold mist I lived thru in Bluejean getting my degrees at the U of Orygun.
In this orchard I can pick lychees, mango's and avocados. We grow tomatoes in the winter, the only time it goes below 70, which is necessary for a bud to set.
This is what you get when Democrats filibuster Zika funding and prioritize planned parenthood over public health. Shame on them.
2
DRS:
There is a connection between funding women's health clinics, and women's health.
Think hard.
There is a connection between funding women's health clinics, and women's health.
Think hard.
1
Oh please.
The media focus on a small section of Miami misses the obvious much larger concern: Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which purportedly are the primary carriers of Zika, range as far north as states like NJ, OH and MO and all the way to the west coast. It's only a matter of a few years at most before Zika is active in half the states in the US.
6
From the first paragraph: "A cluster of Zika cases most likely transmitted by local mosquitoes has been identified in Miami Beach, and federal and state officials are considering whether to advise pregnant women to avoid traveling to the city and possibly even all of Miami-Dade County, a health official said Thursday." To be honest with you, the entire state of Florida is off-limits for me, period.
3
Where did the Zika transmitting mosquitoes come to Miami beach from? Is the new cluster of Zika cases exclusovely spread by mosquitoes or or some of the cases are due to sexual transmission? Several countries have restricted travel to the USA. Does not seem like Brazil Olympics had any serious Zika transmission to tourists. I don't think tourists coming to USA need to worry about Zika but the travel advisory is due to violence in big cities and other factors.
1
So, Floridians...still want a Republican congress?
11
Zika is hardly a new virus . The World Health Organization (WHO) shows the chronology of the virus first identified 60 years ago in Africa, spreading to Asia , the Americas, and globally.
Only now have we started testing for the virus.
Considering the large number of world travelers, immigrants and globalization what are the chances Zika is not a recent arrival in America
The designation Of Wynwood (where no live infected mosquitos were ever found) as "Ground Zero" is fear mongering and stigmatizing. In fact the infected area in Wynwood was actually a 500 sq. foot area.
Good luck, Miami Beach
Only now have we started testing for the virus.
Considering the large number of world travelers, immigrants and globalization what are the chances Zika is not a recent arrival in America
The designation Of Wynwood (where no live infected mosquitos were ever found) as "Ground Zero" is fear mongering and stigmatizing. In fact the infected area in Wynwood was actually a 500 sq. foot area.
Good luck, Miami Beach
4
Considering that Florida is synonymous with incompetence, the US Government must intervene immediately. South Florida will receive heavy rain for the next two months and temperatures and humidity will remain high.
Without serious intervention, this epidemic will spread, and our fate cannot be left to Rick Scott.
Without serious intervention, this epidemic will spread, and our fate cannot be left to Rick Scott.
8
Authorities are "considering" whether to warn people? What have they told their families? The number of tourists planning a pregnancy or women already pregnant is limited, and we still have access to safe, legal birth control in the US.
Given the devastating damage a fetus faces, I think a warning, even if overly cautious, is the only responsible action.
Given the devastating damage a fetus faces, I think a warning, even if overly cautious, is the only responsible action.
5
Pregnant women should not visit those places afflicted by zika. Advisory can be put . How about mosquito robots fighting the real mosquitoes spreading the zika virus. It can be done. If travellers surf on their smart phones sitting on chairs on the beach,then it does not make any sense to visit the beach. When one visit the beach,the sole purpose is to enjoy the waves,and not keeping busy with the smart phone,which can very well be done at home. Otherwise ,do a digital visit,and no fear of zika.
If only this technology could be applied to congress so they wouldn't reproduce...
1
The Republican attitude towards this is, of course, reprehensible.
But the real news is that Zika is but one of many diseases marching north (and I presume south) of the equator because of Anthropogenic Climate Change.
Chikungunya has been in the Caribbean for at least two years now. More are on the move.
Disease, drought, extreme weather, rising temperatures. The future is here.
But the real news is that Zika is but one of many diseases marching north (and I presume south) of the equator because of Anthropogenic Climate Change.
Chikungunya has been in the Caribbean for at least two years now. More are on the move.
Disease, drought, extreme weather, rising temperatures. The future is here.
5
First, THANK YOU President Obama for using your executive power to authorize the spending of $81M toward Zika research and the health and safety of our Citizens.
Now, if we could only train the Zika carrying mosquitos to bite Republican congress people, there might still be hope for this Great Nation of ours. Let the evil doers suffer the evil they embrace.
Now, if we could only train the Zika carrying mosquitos to bite Republican congress people, there might still be hope for this Great Nation of ours. Let the evil doers suffer the evil they embrace.
5
But they have not found an actual mosquito with Zika, and we're told they don't travel far, so what exactly is going on? How did the virus get here and when will it hit New York, Washington, Boston, Chicago, LA, and the rest of the country?
Silly distinctions drawn in the article. Ades is everywhere in the south, and it's not mosquito travel that's important, but human. Southern Florida is a Aedes aegypti zone, as is all the southern US.
15
Florida's Governor Scott has denied global warming while his state sinks into the Atlantic. Might as well just also deny the Zika problem. It's certainly easier than dealing with them.
56
Can't risk damage to the tourism industry - babies with birth defects be damned. What's more important?
1
The failure of Congress to act is an appalling example of the many effects of Republican redistricting.
41
This entire article balances precariously on the claims of a (conveniently) anonymous health official, even as it completely fails to make the connection of the recent anti-mosquito chemical spraying to the symptoms of this "handful of cases" of sick individuals. It's a circular pattern. And, the design of that patten is what really needs to be investigated.
3
Some blame the Senate for going into recess without approving Zika funding. And while that's correct, the real issue is that Republicans have refused to allow a bill to come to a floor vote that hasn't come with ridiculous riders like defunding parts of Obamacare or Planned Parenthood (and with weird pork barrel spending related to the continuing operation of military bases in certain states). The blame clearly rests with them. If they were serious about preventing a serious disease from causing birth defects (and non-negligible health problems for people actually affected by the virus), they would present a clean bill for a vote, and it would pass.
74
It is people that are spreading Zika. The mosquitoes are already there waiting for an infected carrier.
14
I assume you would agree that it is more preferable to get rid of mosquitos that carry the virus, rather than get rid of the people? On the other hand, these days it is dangerous to assume anything.
12
Congress might fund getting rid of people before they take on mosquitoes. After nearly eight years of obstruction and simple tantrums, I see them as capable of doing anything to hurt the people of the US. Ask the rest of the world how they feel about the US government.
Didn't we effectively control yellow fever back when we had very few effective chemicals to control mosquitoes? Scientists had to prove that mosquitoes spread yellow fever and the then-strange delay in transmission before they could get the government to act. Several gave their lives to our ancestors (and to us) to prove the mosquito was the vector. We know mosquitoes spread Zika (and a number of ugly diseases).
While encouraging the fostering of simple bat nesting sites will limit mosquito populations, we can probably eliminate mosquitoes. Bats will eat other annoying flying bugs. Bats in the US are not vampire bats. They are helpful, quiet critters and we should not fear them.
Didn't we effectively control yellow fever back when we had very few effective chemicals to control mosquitoes? Scientists had to prove that mosquitoes spread yellow fever and the then-strange delay in transmission before they could get the government to act. Several gave their lives to our ancestors (and to us) to prove the mosquito was the vector. We know mosquitoes spread Zika (and a number of ugly diseases).
While encouraging the fostering of simple bat nesting sites will limit mosquito populations, we can probably eliminate mosquitoes. Bats will eat other annoying flying bugs. Bats in the US are not vampire bats. They are helpful, quiet critters and we should not fear them.
1
Paul Ryan and the Republicans should be tried for domestic terrorism -- they blocked funding for Zika prevention, and went off on vacation.
67
Now that Zika threatens the 0.1%, the GOP may decide to act.
18
toom: really doubtful. The forest fires have been destroying real estate owned by wealthy people and they still don't believe in global warming.
I am glad Ms. Moniz pointed to Republican delays for Zika control. Most likely it would have arrived anyway, but it may not have been as soon or as widespread so soon. Couple that with Republican attempts to defund abortion providers, and we see that the Republicans are a significant part of the problem. Let us hope that the doubling rate of the epidemic can be slowed and that those women who choose will have access to termination of fetuses if they wish.
Similar sorts of morals-driven delay tactics were used by the Republican Saint, Ronald Reagan, when he withheld funding in the early stages of the HIV epidemic.
Republicans like to pose as paragons of fiscal sensibility, but let us ask how much will their delays will cost in terms of money as the epidemic builds (not to say the human costs)? We don't know for sure, of course, but CDCP Director Dr. Thomas Frieden made this estimate in a recent webinar for the Kaiser Family Foundation: "the lifetime cost of care for a microcephalic child would be somewhere between $1 million and $10 million. "
Similar sorts of morals-driven delay tactics were used by the Republican Saint, Ronald Reagan, when he withheld funding in the early stages of the HIV epidemic.
Republicans like to pose as paragons of fiscal sensibility, but let us ask how much will their delays will cost in terms of money as the epidemic builds (not to say the human costs)? We don't know for sure, of course, but CDCP Director Dr. Thomas Frieden made this estimate in a recent webinar for the Kaiser Family Foundation: "the lifetime cost of care for a microcephalic child would be somewhere between $1 million and $10 million. "
43
Florida is exhibit A for the failure of the governor and legislature of the state and of the Republicans in Congress to take public health and environmental crises seriously. Not only is the Zika virus spreading but the lakes and waterways are being poisoned by algae and other small plants and micro-organisms. It stems from a dismissal of scientific evidence, a head in sand attitude towards any progressive measure that might lower business profits.
"The chickens are coming home to roost". The Florida tourist and vacation industries will take a nose-dive.
"The chickens are coming home to roost". The Florida tourist and vacation industries will take a nose-dive.
60
You'd think of all the states in the union, the citizens of Florida would be vehement about electing an open-minded, environmentally progressive and scientifically motivated governor and legislature. Instead the cretins entrust the subtropical jewel to people with ideology that hovers somewhere around the year 1400.
35
Whatever one feels about the right to choose an abortion, Zika presents a very fascinating (and not in a good way) challenge. It will be interesting (and not in a good way) to watch what happens as the reality of microcephalic fetuses presents itself. If it were me, I'd want the choice, regardless of the politicians' belief that I should carry this pregnancy to term.
33
Marco Rubio knows best what you should do with your pregnancies, Muffie.
1
Noticed Scott Walker's administration has decided against pursuing challenging the blocking of the strict abortion legislation he signed into law. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that the Zika virus has now become a real problem for Florida, and the services of Planned Parenthood both for providing birth control and pregnancy terminations are sorely needed. Also notice that he is calling on the federal government for help in combatting the virus. Republicans revile the federal government until they need it.
36
Did you mean Rick Scott? Not Scott Walker of Wisconsin, although these two could be easily confused for the other. Not by looks of course -- one bald, the other not -- but by policies and deep unpopularity among the citizens of their states.
15
Besides contraception and abortion services, we will need increased resources for people with disabilities and support for their families. Especially if true to form they continue to seek to block access to family planning services.
17
Yes, I've often noticed how routinely Republicans call on the federal government to come and take care of some disaster, even thought they hate it so very much. And the local Republicans never fail to show up for the photo op provided by the feds coming to the rescue.
1
Thank you Governor Scott for cutting mosquito-control funding, eliminating the mosquito labs, & slashing funding for county health departments & health clinics. Thanks also on the Federal level to the House Republicans who called for much less funding & inserting other non-related & controversial issues into their version of the Zika bill. Your actions (non-actions?) have consequences, none of them good. Do you even care?
87
Jean, the answer to your question is: Governor Scott does NOT care. Republicans in general do NOT care, at least not about others. Like Hillary (who is republican lite and like Trump, the only people they care about is themselves and maybe their families.
1
Perhaps the United States ought to consider eliminating mosquitoes altogether. In our era of environmental consciousness, when past human alterations of the biosphere seem to have been uniformly negative, this may seem a terrible idea.
Yet Federal regulators have recently approved the local release of genetically modified male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, capable of mating, to produce offspring that will die before maturing to the point of procreation. Expectations are that numbers of these mosquitoes in the local environment, the Florida Keys, will drastically decline.
The list of terrible diseases transmitted by mosquitoes is long, and it includes some of the most devastating human maladies, such as malaria, encephalitis, dengue, Yellow Fever, West Nile, and Zika. It makes one wonder.
Genetic modification could presumably eliminate other mosquito species as well. While the insects may be important sources of food for other animals, perhaps other insects might take their place in the food chain.
Widespread mosquito elimination should not immediately be undertaken. Instead, such a plan could be tested in small circumscribed environments, perhaps islands, as has been planned in the Keys. Years of investigation of local environment consequences might be evaluated before proceeding to larger regions.
Yet Federal regulators have recently approved the local release of genetically modified male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, capable of mating, to produce offspring that will die before maturing to the point of procreation. Expectations are that numbers of these mosquitoes in the local environment, the Florida Keys, will drastically decline.
The list of terrible diseases transmitted by mosquitoes is long, and it includes some of the most devastating human maladies, such as malaria, encephalitis, dengue, Yellow Fever, West Nile, and Zika. It makes one wonder.
Genetic modification could presumably eliminate other mosquito species as well. While the insects may be important sources of food for other animals, perhaps other insects might take their place in the food chain.
Widespread mosquito elimination should not immediately be undertaken. Instead, such a plan could be tested in small circumscribed environments, perhaps islands, as has been planned in the Keys. Years of investigation of local environment consequences might be evaluated before proceeding to larger regions.
14
Well, they used to use DDT to do just that. After "Silent Spring," people rethought chemical control - to the extent that bans were applied in countries with much more significant mosquito problems - the result being thousands and thousands of deaths of children year after year. What did rich countries with no mosquito problem do about that? Mosquito nets! The rich countries charitably sending mosquito nets to the poor countries after banning the best available defense against mosquitoes. Your idea of banning the mosquito through genetic modification would take decades, and might not work because it involves the whole planet. Your idea that a local environment could be used is unrealistic - mosquitoes are too mobile and their environment itself is mobile (water). Like it or not, for a problem insect so prolific and so mobile, some type of chemical insecticide has to at least be part of the solution. Wind machines don't work where there is no wind, in other words. Now, do roaches - give me your new-age idea for eliminating roaches.
1
Yes, let's tamper with the animal food chain. We've tampered with the weather and we see how well that's turned out. Why stop here?
Juat one little comment to this point: mosquito wrigglers are an important food item for fish fry; those young fish really thrive on those larvae. And, there's another element: attract swallows and swifts - those avian flycatchers can eat thousands of mosquitoes per night. Over here in Germany, you have swallows' nests under the eaves, you can be virtually assured of a skeeter-free evening.
This "destroy them all" attitude ignores the fact that, if you remove some creature from the food chain, and another, and another, it will collapse at some point and, finally, take you down with it.
This "destroy them all" attitude ignores the fact that, if you remove some creature from the food chain, and another, and another, it will collapse at some point and, finally, take you down with it.
1
Oh you gotta love our Christian GOP! They are convinced the end of the world is coming and a Zika outbreak may very well be the first glorious sign of the impending rapture. In their warped world- funding preventative measures for mass pandemics would be interfering with God's plan [to end the Earth]. Unless of course, one of their family members gets infected- then there's high probability God will speak to one of them, urge the approval of immediate funding and that it's the right thing to do.. Amen.
69
When will Major League Baseball announce the cancellation all Miami area games as they did for the 3 games in Puerto Rico earlier this year? In case they forgot here is there press announcement in May
"The Major League Players Association asked Baseball Commissioner Robert Manfred to relocate the games to Miami because of the player's concerns about contracting Zika, a mosquito-borne disease that has been linked to birth defects.
"Players received briefings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including cautions for those travelling with partners who are pregnant or are attempting to conceive. After the briefings, too many players on both teams objected to travelling to Puerto Rico, forcing MLB to relocate the games to Miami."
"The Major League Players Association asked Baseball Commissioner Robert Manfred to relocate the games to Miami because of the player's concerns about contracting Zika, a mosquito-borne disease that has been linked to birth defects.
"Players received briefings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including cautions for those travelling with partners who are pregnant or are attempting to conceive. After the briefings, too many players on both teams objected to travelling to Puerto Rico, forcing MLB to relocate the games to Miami."
26
Congress isn't going to pay one bit of attention to this issue until a Zika mosquito literally bites one of their family.
91
Terry: More than just biting a member of congress; it has to cause some real and lasting harm.
So, Congress, in its continuing racist catfight with the Obama administration, refused to fund the anti-Zika virus proposal because of the Planned Parenthood rider they wished to attach to the president's attempt to combat this menace. Then they went on vacation.
Hope Florida's governor, state legislature, two senators and the House contingent are proud of their sworn word to uphold their oaths of office to safeguard the voting public as well as trolling for tourist dollars. Way to go, Red State! Citizens first!
Hope Florida's governor, state legislature, two senators and the House contingent are proud of their sworn word to uphold their oaths of office to safeguard the voting public as well as trolling for tourist dollars. Way to go, Red State! Citizens first!
61
There goes the birthrate in the American tropics. Guess we'll need to admit more immigrants to keep the economy growing.
7
They'll be Zika carriers.
So Wynwood got a cluster of Zika cases, and pregnant women were warned to avoid the area if they'd rather avoid getting Zika. Through, I don't know, the Pregnant Women's Network or something.
Now that there are confirmed mosquito-transmitted cases in Miami Beach, not just people who got it in Rio and flew back to Miami, why are they dragging their feet on warning pregnant women away from the area?
Money is why. That's a tourist destination, relying mostly on tourism really, and if they put out a warning all the local businesses are going to scream that their profits will be slashed.
So rather than being driven by concerns for public health, the CDC and Florida's DOH are apparently being driven by monetary concerns. I feel badly for the microcephalic babies that wind up getting caused by this lack of response to Zika, but if any of the people involved in covering up or ignoring the problem get affected by it, that's fine by me.
Now that there are confirmed mosquito-transmitted cases in Miami Beach, not just people who got it in Rio and flew back to Miami, why are they dragging their feet on warning pregnant women away from the area?
Money is why. That's a tourist destination, relying mostly on tourism really, and if they put out a warning all the local businesses are going to scream that their profits will be slashed.
So rather than being driven by concerns for public health, the CDC and Florida's DOH are apparently being driven by monetary concerns. I feel badly for the microcephalic babies that wind up getting caused by this lack of response to Zika, but if any of the people involved in covering up or ignoring the problem get affected by it, that's fine by me.
24
When Zika was pronounced in South America, I thought it only a matter of time before the United States would be threatened by it. That was months ago. United States government has responded in its adroitly inefficient way, its continuing irresponsible way.
Whatever our individual political philosophy may be, don't we all expect our leaders to protect us against those things that are really beyond our individual capabilities--wars, plagues, and the like. To me, Zika has multiple tragic possibilities. It requires a thoughtful and active response. It requires governmental action now.
Whatever our individual political philosophy may be, don't we all expect our leaders to protect us against those things that are really beyond our individual capabilities--wars, plagues, and the like. To me, Zika has multiple tragic possibilities. It requires a thoughtful and active response. It requires governmental action now.
24
It requires voting ALL Republicans out of office. They are anarchists, every one of them.
14
This pending doom is the direct result of the failure of our Congress to act. This is not our "government" refusing to act but rather 535 men and women who deserted us in order to go home to raise funds and campaign for re-election. Do NOT re-elect encumbents.
9
Over 700 pregnant US citizens are infected with Zika in Puerto Rico. A family member remarked to me earlier this summer that the Republicans in Congress will not care as long as brown skinned people are infected. Now that the disease is impacting us white skinned people it looks as if they will get down to business. If this crowd had been around when Pearl Harbor was bombed, we would likely all now be speaking German.
42
Let's restore those swamps from which our Capitol emerged, and move Congress outdoors for the Summer.
14
Not to worry, the private sector is going to fix this.
31
So, our genius Republican Party didn't think Zika was a real thing, and left it to fester. How can anybody not understand about disease transmitted by mosquitos? Our grandparents carefully crafted public health projects like mosquito control to make sure we wouldn't suffer plagues of yellow fever and malaria, both of which have long histories in the US. Then these fools blow it- because they can't be bothered with governance! I suggest we send the Congressional Republican Caucus to Venezuela for a first hand look at where their actions will lead. A swarm of malaria laden mosquitos is just what they need for a reality check on public health issues.
69
"Our grandparents carefully crafted public health projects like mosquito control to make sure we wouldn't suffer plagues of yellow fever and malaria, both of which have long histories in the US." Definitely! And they did so with the still only proven and effective tool - DDT spraying.
Keep in mind, the nominee for the number two slot of the GOP, Mike Pence, the man who should Mr. Trump be elected, and then become disabled or otherwise unable to serve, thinks the world is 6,000 years old, that dinosaurs and humans are contemporaneous, and doesn't believe in evolution, much less science.
1
Note that Marco Rubio, running for the Senate again after saying he won't do that, has publicly stated that pregnant women who contract the Zika virus, and will most certainly have babies with major health issues as a result, should not be allowed to get abortions.
He said nothing about having the government help these women in any way after they are forced by politicians like him to give birth to babies with enormous health problems.
As always with the GOP - love the fetus, hate the baby.
He said nothing about having the government help these women in any way after they are forced by politicians like him to give birth to babies with enormous health problems.
As always with the GOP - love the fetus, hate the baby.
168
I really don't understand how he expects to be reelected.
5
Right. Let's spend even more billions of taxpayer dollars to try to stop mosquitoes flying north from South America. If you can't stop illegal immigration, how can you stop mosquitoes? And isn't pesticide spraying and mosquito abatement against the code of ethics for all the feel good environmentalists on the left? The Democrat party has once again run amuck in its repeated attempt to control the uncontrollable and to panic Americans into spending more money that we do not have.
10
Response to Paul:
We need to be spending money on NIH funding for research that investigates how to defeat all viruses, including this one.
Furthermore we need to be vastly more invested in scientific literacy.
Mosquitos are simply carriers of this virus. A number of diseases were thought to be incurable in our history; those diseases were thought to be uncontrollable in their time. But they're 'history' now. And the same can be true of Zika.
Illegal immigration and flying mosquitos are literally apples and oranges.
Let me get this right -- when I hear that we panicked Americans are spending money we don't have, I wonder -- how is it we have unlimited funds for credit card-funded wars in the Middle East, but not the health of all Americans and the rest of the world??
Our life (and deaths) depend upon our investment in science. If we don't make room in our budget for scientific research, we really are doomed.
We need to be spending money on NIH funding for research that investigates how to defeat all viruses, including this one.
Furthermore we need to be vastly more invested in scientific literacy.
Mosquitos are simply carriers of this virus. A number of diseases were thought to be incurable in our history; those diseases were thought to be uncontrollable in their time. But they're 'history' now. And the same can be true of Zika.
Illegal immigration and flying mosquitos are literally apples and oranges.
Let me get this right -- when I hear that we panicked Americans are spending money we don't have, I wonder -- how is it we have unlimited funds for credit card-funded wars in the Middle East, but not the health of all Americans and the rest of the world??
Our life (and deaths) depend upon our investment in science. If we don't make room in our budget for scientific research, we really are doomed.
22
"Spending money we don't have"...because we have given it all to the 1%, who don't need to worry about Zika or much of anything else except for open revolution or higher taxes.
8
So, I am waiting to congress republicans how to spin this wrong doing.
They didn't give US government the money needs to fight against Zika on time, Now It is slowly spreading.
Yet still Conservatives are working hard to instill damage to families, forbidding condom usage advises. etc.
USA , once again abandoned by Right wing politicians (GOP).
They didn't give US government the money needs to fight against Zika on time, Now It is slowly spreading.
Yet still Conservatives are working hard to instill damage to families, forbidding condom usage advises. etc.
USA , once again abandoned by Right wing politicians (GOP).
50
In addition to avoiding certain areas of Miami, it would also be wise to advise pregnant women to avoid voting for Senator Marco Rubio, the Republican Senator from Florida, who has been quoted as saying he would require women to carry their Zika infected babies to term no matter what the circumstances or hardships might be.
200
The best pregnancy is a forced pregnancy: Marco Rubio 2020
http://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2016/08/rubio-no-abortions-...
http://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2016/08/rubio-no-abortions-...
15
I can't wait to see what the impact will be on the art fairs in December - maybe these pesky mosquitoes will be blamed for the top in the contemporary art market.
3
Will the Republicans step up and provide a simple disease prevention funding bill, significant support for the babies and families afflicted, extensive prevention measures such as contraception and a apology as well for all they have wrought? Not a chance.
Have they any shame or common decency? I think not. But maybe if Zika impacts tourism, they may finally act.
Have they any shame or common decency? I think not. But maybe if Zika impacts tourism, they may finally act.
79
Puerto Rico has had a Zika epidemic that started in December, but Congress decided not to provide funds to prevent what is now happening in Miami. Of course, who cares what happens to the 3.5 million US citizens that live there, in the world's oldest colony? Not the Republicans. When their relatives get zika, maybe they will realize the consequences of their actions and heed the CDC's recommendations.
1
Zika will be widespread in the lower quarter of the United States south all the way to Peru within two years. Different Zika, though. Different strains, different hosts and different vectors (mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, sex). Perhaps its name should be changed to the "Rio Olympics Zika Disease", because American tourists returning from the Rio Olympics might have brought it.
"Life will find a way", why it can't be slowed; forget stopped.
What we can't know is whether its expansion of range will be accompanied by significant pathogenic changes in its morbidity and mortality. Over time that's inevitable. There's just no way to measure how quickly Zika is evolving to find open niches, new hosts and vectors, or what it new disease processes will be unleashed by its dominant strains.
"Life will find a way", why it can't be slowed; forget stopped.
What we can't know is whether its expansion of range will be accompanied by significant pathogenic changes in its morbidity and mortality. Over time that's inevitable. There's just no way to measure how quickly Zika is evolving to find open niches, new hosts and vectors, or what it new disease processes will be unleashed by its dominant strains.
19
At this point, one can only wonder if this recent discovery of the ZIKA virus in Miami is enough to bring the Republican Congress back from its break, in order to serve the interests of the people they were elected to serve.
In the meantime, we are fortunate to have a President whose priorities are intact, and who knows how to enact an Executive Order to Make America Safe Again.
In the meantime, we are fortunate to have a President whose priorities are intact, and who knows how to enact an Executive Order to Make America Safe Again.
98
alternatively, is the outbreak sufficient to cause the democrats to not block the next funding bill?
2
You know very well what was in that funding bill. Don't just pretend this is equal level.
This is an emergency and Republicans don't give a damn, rather attach strings of highly political character. Shame on them, all of them.
I am disgusted.
This is an emergency and Republicans don't give a damn, rather attach strings of highly political character. Shame on them, all of them.
I am disgusted.
2
Unfortunately, mosquitoes don't understand that they have to stay within the zone.
30
Has anyone informed them about the zone?
Nor do the people who are bitten by the mosquito, infected with the virus, yet not showing symptoms.
They travel and carry the virus with them. Then another mosquito bites them, gets the virus and passes it on to another human in a different location. That's how it got to the US.
They travel and carry the virus with them. Then another mosquito bites them, gets the virus and passes it on to another human in a different location. That's how it got to the US.
During their 2 week lifespan, mosquitoes travel between 100-200 feet
The NYT should write an article about all the natural wonders that have come into our country that weren't here fifty years ago, where they came from, and what if any effects they have had here. It would make good reading.
8
As someone who just came back to the United States after months of work in the Caribbean, I can also report that the cost of a Zika test in New York City is $780.00
For those of us with 'affordable' insurance plans with high deductibles (or no insurance at all), this cost is prohibitive. We have to make it easier for anyone who suspects they may have Zika to get a simple blood test.
For those of us with 'affordable' insurance plans with high deductibles (or no insurance at all), this cost is prohibitive. We have to make it easier for anyone who suspects they may have Zika to get a simple blood test.
107
We have got to take this outbreak very seriously. Up till now Miami comforted itself that somehow mosquitos carrying the virus could be confined to one area only.
I hope everyone takes into account the fact that sexual soead of the virus seems to be more prevalent than previously believed.
And there is now evidence, admittedly only in mice so far, that the virus can cross the hood brain barrier even in adults, attacking cells that underlie memory and other basic cognitive functions. A type of dementia.
Congress must ensure adequate funds for protecting the population.
I hope everyone takes into account the fact that sexual soead of the virus seems to be more prevalent than previously believed.
And there is now evidence, admittedly only in mice so far, that the virus can cross the hood brain barrier even in adults, attacking cells that underlie memory and other basic cognitive functions. A type of dementia.
Congress must ensure adequate funds for protecting the population.
64
It was well known and documented months ago that zika was a potential risk for South Florida. The fact that congress did nothing and decided to recess before any preventive solution was put into law. In the meantime Gov. Chris is not capable at preventing yet another crisis (green algae blooms) and will resort to another request for federal help. Shame on all of you!
88
the local pols also did nothing, even when the outbreak occured Miami's mayor even denied on national news, that there even weren't any mosquitoes in Miami.
14
If it were possible for me to become pregnant, or if I had a sexual partner who was planning to be involved in a pregnancy, I would stay out of the entire southern part of the US. (I realize that sadly this is not possible for most people.) Those mosquitos are quickly going to fly over to Texas and Louisiana, for example. People who are unknowingly carriers will be moving around a lot too.
This situation is shameful. A Congress that is ignorant about public health should not be holding the purse strings regarding the Zika illness, especially the crazy right wing Congress we now have. Many babies and entire families will be suffering because Congress wants to play politics, when their job is supposedly to make life better for Americans.
This situation is shameful. A Congress that is ignorant about public health should not be holding the purse strings regarding the Zika illness, especially the crazy right wing Congress we now have. Many babies and entire families will be suffering because Congress wants to play politics, when their job is supposedly to make life better for Americans.
61
"A Congress that is ignorant about public health should not be holding the purse strings " OK - except your comment about mosquitos flying over to Texas is laughable. They won't because they can't. They stay within a short range and don't live very long. You're right about people though - they will spread it around.
There was an outbreak of encephalitic carrying mosquitos covered by the media when I lived in Miami in 1990. We were covered in bites from head to toe. I called the mosquito control many times to come and spray in our neighborhood but they never came. Soon afterwards I came down with numbness which spread and stayed with me. Many years later it was diagnosed as multiple sclerosis. My child who was equally bitten developed it as well and had the same progression. I have connected to others on the internet who were in Miami at
that time who had the identical experience. I think there's a lot that may be being kept from us regarding mosquitos transmitting various diseases and a lot we need to learn.
that time who had the identical experience. I think there's a lot that may be being kept from us regarding mosquitos transmitting various diseases and a lot we need to learn.
29
Ms. Smith, yours is a sad story and you are probably right - other's were affected too. This is why it is so important to stand-up to our Congress and demand that they allocate appropriate resources to prevent out-breaks like Zika or encephalitis from affect our citizens. For our Congress to take no action wrt allocating funds to address this Zika outbreak and then take a 7 week "holiday" when our citizens are at risk is unconscionable!
3
Florida's tourist bureau has removed billboards urging people to use condoms to prevent zika transmission.
68
This would be about as effective in blocking transmission as urging the mosquitoes to use condoms
7
Jerry--You do know that zika can be transmitted through sex as well as mosquitos, right? Right?
2
Drop dead, America !
GOP 2016
GOP 2016
138
Socrates - Where are the Executive Orders now that we need them. Bla bla bla blame Republicans, bla bla bla not the Democrats fault. Who has been in charge of this country during the past eight years and you want four more?
4
It might be good for you to look up the request for funding that the President sent Congress.
Last February.
Last February.
10
Actually, didn't President Obama just issue an order providing quite a few millions of dollars for dealing with the Zika outbreak? He had no choice because the GOP wouldn't allow a clean bill to be voted on. Instead, they doomed it with a Planned Parenthood poison pill. Tired hasn't been paying attention.
16
That Republicans in Congress used the Zika funding bill to play dirty politics, and once again got nothing done, should come back to haunt them on election day. Over 600 pregnant women were infected by Zika when the Republicans decided to use it as a cudgel against Planned Parenthood. This behavior is deeply shameful.
No woman or man of child-bearing age should run unnecessary risks with the future life of a child while their Congresspeople enjoy a 7 week vacation after leaving the nation's business undone.
No woman or man of child-bearing age should run unnecessary risks with the future life of a child while their Congresspeople enjoy a 7 week vacation after leaving the nation's business undone.
286
Most Zika funding is for a Zika vaccine. There are already at least 3 private companies working on a Zika vaccine and will likely be finished before the US Government. It is also likely that most of the Zika epidemic will burn itself out before a vaccine is ready. A lot of Zika money requested by Obama would actually go to groups like the State Department. What for?
This is just another excuse by Obama to increase federal spending. Money was taken away from some other important research to fund 1/2 of the Zika vaccine development and will be a total loss if the program is not completed. More wasteful government spending.
This is just another excuse by Obama to increase federal spending. Money was taken away from some other important research to fund 1/2 of the Zika vaccine development and will be a total loss if the program is not completed. More wasteful government spending.
1
The money was for vaccine development, mosquito control needs, and public health services. Local, clinic-type, reproductive health services which makes an awful lot of sense given that this is a sexually-transmitted virus that can cause life long damage to babies... but, let not the Republicans miss a single opportunity to deny people those services.
In times and places where it is most needed, calling targeted funding 'wasteful government spending' shows a shocking lack of concern for your fellow citizens.
In times and places where it is most needed, calling targeted funding 'wasteful government spending' shows a shocking lack of concern for your fellow citizens.
45
Beyond the fact that this is nonsense, Congress' resoonse to the President's request for funding was "Nah, just take the money from Ebola research and prevention."
I don't mind stupidity, but I do have a teeny issue with stupidity's trying to take me down with it.
I don't mind stupidity, but I do have a teeny issue with stupidity's trying to take me down with it.
16
With so many unidentified dangers coming to light about the Zika virus, what other surprises are in store?
And what about our do-nothing, GOP-controlled Congress? No wonder Obama has to respond to this looming crisis alone using executive actions.