February 13, 2016 - HAWAII - Hawaii has declared a state of emergency in a move to fight and
prevent mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever and the Zika virus,
which the state’s governor called a threat to public health and
welfare.
“We are doing everything we can to be prepared, to
be proactive, to prevent vector-borne diseases here in Hawaii,” Gov.
David Ige said in a proclamation he signed Friday.
So
far, Hawaii has not seen cases of the Zika virus transmission, but it
is on standby following a decision by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) to put emergency centers on a Level 1 alert last
week.
But there is an ongoing outbreak of dengue fever at Big
Island, where there were more than 250 confirmed cases. One of the major
concerns now is that mosquitoes that can carry dengue fever also can
carry the Zika virus, which potentially puts the island at risk.
There are also flights between American Samoa, one of the Pacific islands affected by a Zika outbreak, and Hawaii.
“Hawaii Emergency Management Agency will be working with all the county mayors and the county civil defense coordinators to ensure that statewide we are ahead of the game and proactive in responding to vector-borne diseases,” the governor said.
The emergency proclamation means that Hawaii will have access to the Major Disaster Fund, granting it an option to acquire more funds to control outbreaks and waive certain laws and regulations if necessary.
"One of the things that this emergency declaration from the governor will allow us to do is that we can in fact enforce that we will come and take care of mosquitoes on a property that someone is refusing, because it is a public health emergency,” Virginia Pressler, director of the Department of Health said, AP reported.
In particular the authorities would be able to use insecticides on private property, regardless of an owner’s objection.
According to Pressler, understaffed due to financial problems, the state’s health regulator is now searching to hire more medical workers and scientists with the newly released funds from the governor.
Gov. Ige has said the state will begin to survey the community to verify the particular mosquito species and determine their locations. Then it will work out and implement plans for their “management, eradication and treatment,” he said. - Hawaii.
February 9, 2016 - BIG ISLAND, HAWAII - The
mayor of Hawaii's Big Island declared a state of emergency on Monday to
deal with a growing outbreak of dengue fever, spread by infected
mosquitoes, with 250 cases confirmed over the past four months.
As a result of Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi's order people on the Big Island will be allowed to resume disposing of old tires in landfills, since tires which are left lying around are a known breeding spot for mosquitoes.
There have been 250 confirmed cases of dengue fever on the island since Oct. 29, making it the largest outbreak in the state since the 1940s, according to the mayor's declaration and Hawaii health officials.
Dengue fever causes flu-like symptoms and can develop into the deadly dengue hemorrhagic fever.
Hawaii Governor David Ige said in a statement he supported the efforts on the Big Island but would not issue a statewide emergency declaration unless the outbreak spread to other islands or expanded to include other diseases, such as the Zika virus.
Zika is spreading rapidly in South and Central America and the Caribbean and has been linked to severe birth defects in Brazil.
WATCH: Dengue Fever Press Conference.
Last month, a baby born with brain damage at a hospital in Oahu, Hawaii, was apparently the first case of the mosquito-borne Zika virus in a birth on U.S. soil, health officials said.
Dengue is not endemic to Hawaii but has occasionally spread after being imported by infected travelers. The outbreak on the Big Island is the first cluster of locally-acquired dengue fever since a 2011 outbreak on Oahu, the Hawaii Department of Health said. - Yahoo.
The white-tailed deer is the most abundant and widely studied large mammal in the Americas.
Foxtrot101/iStockphoto
February 8, 2016 - AMERICAS - Two years ago, Ellen Martinsen, was collecting mosquitoes at the
Smithsonian's National Zoo, looking for malaria that might infect
birds—when she discovered something strange: a DNA profile, from
parasites in the mosquitoes, that she couldn't identify.
By chance, she had discovered a malaria parasite, Plasmodium odocoilei—that infects white-tailed deer. It's the first-ever malaria parasite known to live in a deer species and the only native malaria parasite found in any mammal in North or South America. Though white-tailed deer diseases have been heavily studied—scientist hadn't noticed that many have malaria parasites.
Martinsen and her colleagues estimate that the parasite infects up to twenty-five percent of white-tailed deer along the East Coast of the United States. Their results were published February 5 in Science Advances.
In hiding
"You never know what you're going to find when you're out in nature—and
you look," says Martinsen, a research associate at the Smithsonian's
Conservation Biology Institute and adjunct faculty in the University of
Vermont's biology department. "It's a parasite that has been hidden in the most iconic game animal in the United States. I just stumbled across it."
The new study, led by Martinsen, was a collaboration with scientists at
the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, the American Museum of
Natural History, the National Park Service, the University of Georgia,
the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee—and UVM biologist and malaria
expert Joseph Schall.
Though Martinsen and Schall are quick to note that they anticipate
little danger to people from this newly discovered deer malaria, it does
underline the fact that many human health concerns are connected to
wider ecological systems—and that understanding the biology of other
species is a foundation to both conservation and public health
management. Zika virus is recently making worrisome headlines and
"there's a sudden surge in interest in mosquito biology across the
United States," says Schall. "This is a reminder of the importance of
parasite surveys and basic natural history."
In 1967, a renowned malaria researcher reported he'd discovered malaria
in a single deer in Texas. But the received understanding was that "malaria wasn't supposed to be in mammals in the New World,"
says Schall, who has studied malaria for decades. "It was like the guy
was reporting he saw Big Foot," and no other discoveries were made after
that.
But now Martinsen and her colleagues have discovered that the
deer malaria is widespread—though it's "cryptic" she says, because the
parasites occur in very low levels in many of the infected deer. "Ellen
spent days and days looking through a microscope at slides that were
mostly empty," Schall says, but eventually found the parasites. Combined
with sensitive molecular PCR techniques to understand the genetics, the
team confirmed a high prevalence of the disease—between eighteen and
twenty-five percent—in sites ranging from New York to West Virginia to
Louisiana.
Native species
The new discovery fundamentally changes our understanding of the
distribution and evolutionary history of malaria parasites in mammals,
Martinsen says. Some scientists wondered if the deer malaria could have
jumped from people or zoo animals in the recent past. But the new study
suggests otherwise. The team's data shows that the deer actually carry
two genetic lineages of the malaria parasites—"probably different
species," she says—and that the two lineages are substantially different
from each other.
This divergence between the two forms of malaria was used by the
scientists as a kind of molecular clock. "We can date the evolutionary
split between those two lineages," Martinsen says—to 2.3 to 6 million
years ago. Which probably means that when the ancient evolutionary
ancestors to white-tailed deer traveled from Eurasia across the Bering
Land Bridge to North America in the Miocene, some 4.2 to 5.7 million
years ago—malaria came along for the ride. "We think malaria is native to the Americas,"Martinsen says, "that it's been here for millions of years."
Malaria is a major problem for people in many parts of the world—and for
many species of wildlife too. It has been devastating bird species in
Hawaii and Bermuda, among many epidemics. Whether it is hurting white-tailed deer in America is an open question. Martinsen suspects not, because she'd expect to see more obviously sick animals. But Schall wonders if, like some human malaria infections, the disease causes a low-level burden that hurts deer populations.
They both agree that it is an area that calls for more research—and
that the new study raises many other questions, including whether the
parasite might infect dairy cows or other hoofed species.
Ellen Martinsen completed her undergraduate and doctoral training at UVM
in Joe Schall's lab and went on to do her postdoctoral research at the
Smithonian Conservation Biology Institute's Center for Conservation
Genetics. The new discovery drew on a team of scientists and
veterinarians at the Smithsonian and other institutions, who studied
samples from both live and necropsied deer as well as mosquitoes. Additionally, Martinsen returned to Schall's lab for some of the new research.
"Malaria is a top parasitic disease in humans and wildlife," Ellen
Martinsen says. "It's important that we gain a better understanding of
its diversity and distribution not just across humans but across other
species too."
January 15, 2015 - COLOMBIA
- Health Minister Alejandro Gaviria denied today that the Chikungunya
epidemics was out of control and said its expansion was below expected,
despite the more than 80,000 cases of infection registered.
In
remarks to El Nuevo Siglo newspaper, Gaviria warned of a likely increase
in the number of people infected during the recebtly started dry
season.
The dry season, characterized by absence of rain and
lower river levels, make people storage water, a situation that may
increase breeding grounds for mosquitos Aedes aegypti and Aedes
Albopictus, which carry the illness, warned the expert.
According to Gaviria, these mosquitos are present in nearly 1,000 municipalities countrywide.
The population is defenseless; this is an emerging phenomenon in the
Latin American continent and there is no vaccine available so far;
therefore, it is impossible to avoid the introduction and later
expansion of the virus, said the official as quoted by the newspaper.
He said all localities below 2,100 mt above the sea risk a spread of the illness because of the proliferation of these insects.
He denied any shortfall in medicines and said the problem is rather organizational.
Garicia warned the people against self-medication, though.
President Juan Manuel Santos said recently that some 5,000 doctors and
nurses were being trained to face the epidemics in hospitals and other
medical centers, which would be reinforced by military medical services
(from the Army and Police).
The Caribbean departments and Norte de Santander are the worst-hit by the Chikungunya epidemics in Colombia.
The symptoms of this illness are similar to those of the dengue fever. - Prensa Latina.
June 16, 2014 - UNITED STATES - First there was West Nile virus. Now health experts are warning about another virus carried by mosquitoes.
CDC: Cases Confirmed In 15 States, Including N.Y., With 25 In Florida Alone
The chikungunya virus — or “chik-v” — has sickened tens of thousands of people throughout the Caribbean with high fever and severe pain. Now Americans are coming down with it, too, and there’s fear that it will spread, CBS 2′s Kristine Johnson reported.
“This is not a fatal infection; it’s just a miserable infection,” said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of Vanderbilt University’s Department of Preventive Medicine.
Cases of the mosquito-borne virus have been confirmed in 15 states, including New York. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25 cases have been reported in Florida alone.
“The chikungunya fever will last for three, four, five days,” Schaffner said. “You’re miserable. Then you’ll get better. We can treat you symptomatically.”
So far, all of the infected Americans have contracted the virus in parts of the world where it is common. But researchers are worried that mosquitoes in the U.S. could pick up the disease by biting infected people.
WATCH: Health Experts Warn Of New Virus Carried By Mosquitoes.
“There’s a concern that people from the United States who go to the Caribbean might be bitten by infected mosquitoes and then bring this illness, this virus, back to the United States,” Schaffner siad. “We have the kind of mosquito that will transmit this virus here in the U.S.”
Prior outbreaks have occurred in Africa, Asia, and Europe. Late last year, the virus was found for the first time on the Caribbean islands, where more than 100,000 people have been sickened.
“So far, we have no evidence that there are U.S.-bred mosquitoes that have become infected,” Schaffner said.
There is no vaccine to prevent the virus, which is rarely fatal. - CBS.
June 16, 2014 - UNITED STATES - US health officials are on high alert as a mosquito-borne virus that
yet has no cure has struck six of the US states. The virus called
chikungunya causes severe joint pain which can last for years.
Reuters / Philippe Wojazer
The latest case of the virus has been confirmed by Tennessee officials as the resident of Madison County, has been tested positive for the virus. The officials, however, added that there was no transmission to other residents in the state.
"It will be more difficult for the virus to establish itself here," Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee told Tech Times.
Rhode Island authorities also confirmed two cases of the mosquito-borne virus. They involve travelers who returned from the Dominican Republic on May 17 and May 29, said state officials, adding that authorities are currently investigating several other suspicious cases of the virus.
Florida has been the worst hit by the virus, with at least 25 cases reported in the state, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Florida Department of Health released a set of guidelines in order to avoid becoming infected and spreading the virus.
A scientist examines tiger mosquitos (AFP Photo / Pascal Guyot)
The cases of the virus, transmitted to humans through mosquitoes, have also been confirmed in North Carolina, Nebraska and Indiana.
On Wednesday, the virus affected two residents from the US Virgin Islands, according to local authorities.
“The first case has been confirmed as locally acquired; the second case is an imported case with the patient recent travel history outside of the Territory,” said the Department of Health in the US Virgin Islands in a press release.
Florida officials advised residents “to wear long sleeves and long pants when possible," and “use mosquito-proof screens on windows and doors.”
A resident of San Cristobal, southeast of Santo Domingo with symptoms of
chikungunya fever awaits to be treated in the emergency sector of the
Juan Pablo Pina Hospital. (AFP Photo / Erika Santelices)
Symptoms of the malaria-like illness include fever, headache, chills, sensitivity to light, and rash, vomiting and severe joint pain, according to World Health Organization (WHO). Occasional cases of eye, neurological and heart complications have been reported, as well as gastrointestinal complaints, it adds. They usually begin three to seven days after infection occurs. The consequences include a long period of joint pains which may persist for years in some cases. Though the virus rarely leads to death, the problem is that there is currently no vaccine available. The treatment only aims at improving the symptoms.
According to WHO, Chikungunya was first described during an outbreak in southern Tanzania in 1952, eastern Africa, and since then has been detected in nearly 40 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and also in the Americas.
The Pan American Health Organization says that about 165,000 cases have been either suspected or confirmed in the Caribbean since it was first documented in 2013-2014 with 14 death cases. Most of the cases have been detected in Dominican Republic, Guadalupe, Martinique and Haiti. - RT.
May 22, 2014 - CARIBBEAN - They suffer searing headaches, a burning fever and so much pain in
their joints they can barely walk or use their hands. It's like having a
terrible flu combined with an abrupt case of arthritis.
Hospitals
and clinics throughout the Caribbean are seeing thousands of people
with the same symptoms, victims of a virus with a long and unfamiliar
name that has been spread rapidly by mosquitoes across the islands after
the first locally transmitted case was confirmed in December.
"You
feel it in your bones, your fingers and your hands. It's like
everything is coming apart," said 34-year-old Sahira Francisco as she
and her daughter waited for treatment at a hospital in San Cristobal, a
town in the southern Dominican Republic that has seen a surge of the
cases in recent days.
The virus is chikungunya, derived from an
African word that loosely translates as "contorted with pain." People
encountering it in the Caribbean for the first time say the description
is fitting. While the virus is rarely fatal it is extremely
debilitating.
"It is terrible, I have never in my life gotten
such an illness," said Maria Norde, a 66-year-old woman confined to bed
at her home on the lush eastern Caribbean island of Dominica. "All my
joints are in pain."
Outbreaks of the virus have long made people
miserable in Africa and Asia. But it is new to the Caribbean, with the
first locally transmitted case documented in December in French St.
Martin, likely brought in by an infected air traveler. Health officials
are now working feverishly to educate the public about the illness,
knock down the mosquito population, and deal with an onslaught of cases.
Authorities
are attempting to control mosquitoes throughout the Caribbean, from
dense urban neighborhoods to beach resorts. There have been no confirmed
cases of local transmission of chikungunya on the U.S. mainland, but
experts say the high number of travelers to the region means that could
change as early as this summer.
So far, there are no signs the
virus is keeping visitors away though some Caribbean officials warn it
might if it is not controlled. "We need to come together and deal with
this disease," said Dominica Tourism Minister Ian Douglas.
One
thing is certain: The virus has found fertile ground in the Caribbean.
The Pan American Health Organization reports more than 55,000 suspected
and confirmed cases since December throughout the islands. It has also
reached French Guiana, the first confirmed transmission on the South
American mainland.
The Pan American Health Organization says
seven people in the Caribbean with chikungunya have died during the
outbreak but they had underlying health issues that likely contributed
to their death.
"It's building up like a snowball because of the
constant movement of people," said Jacqueline Medina, a specialist at
the Instituto Technologico university in the Dominican Republic, where
some hospitals report more than 100 new cases per day.
Chikungunya
was identified in Africa in 1953 and is found throughout the tropics of
the Eastern Hemisphere. It is spread by two species of mosquitoes,
aedes aegypti and aedes albopictus. It's also a traveler-borne virus
under the right circumstances.
It can spread to a new area if
someone has it circulating in their system during a relatively short
period of time, roughly 2-3 days before the onset of symptoms to 5 days
after, and then arrives to an area with the right kind of mosquitoes.
For
years, there have been sporadic cases of travelers diagnosed with
chikungunya but without local transmission. In 2007, there was an
outbreak in northern Italy, so health authorities figured it was just a
matter of time before it spread to the Western Hemisphere, said Dr.
Roger Nasci, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"With
the increase in travelers the likelihood that something like this would
happen goes up and eventually it did," said Nasci, chief of a CDC
branch that tracks insect-borne diseases. "We ended up with somebody at
the right time and the right place infecting mosquitoes."
The two
species of mosquitoes that spread chikungunya are found in the southern
and eastern United States and the first local transmissions could occur
this summer given the large number of U.S. travelers to the Caribbean,
Nasci said. Already, the Florida Department of Health has reported at
least four imported cases from travelers to Haiti, the Dominican
Republic and Dominica.
"What we're seeing now is an increase in
the number of infected travelers coming from the Caribbean, which is
expected because there's a lot of U.S. travel, a lot of vacation travel,
a lot of work travel," he said.
Around the Caribbean, local
authorities have been spraying fogs of pesticides and urging people to
remove standing pools of water where mosquitoes breed.
An
estimated 60-90 percent of those infected show symptoms, compared to
around 20 percent for dengue, which is common in the region. There is no
vaccine and the only cure is treatment for the pain and fluid loss.
One
consolation for those suffering from the illness is that unlike dengue,
which has several variants, people only seem to get chikungunya once.
"The
evidence suggests that once you get it and recover, once your immune
system clears the virus you are immune for life," Nasci said. - Breitbart.
Palm Beach County Man Diagnosed With Chikungunya
A 66-year-old man became the first person in Palm Beach County
— and the fourth in Florida — to come down with chikungunya fever after
contracting the mosquito-borne virus in the Caribbean, the county
Health Department announced Wednesday.
The unidentified man began feeling ill on May 15, shortly after returning home from a trip through the island of Hispaniola, Health Department spokesman Timothy O'Connor said. He was treated at a county hospital the following day and is recovering at home, where he is protecting himself from mosquitoes so as not to spread the virus.
WATCH: Palm Beach County man diagnosed with chikungunya.
Test results confirmed the chikungunya diagnosis late Tuesday. Last week, the Florida Department of Health confirmed three other imported cases of the disease in women in Broward, Miami-Dade and Hillsborough counties. All of them had been traveling in the Caribbean when infected.- Sun Sentinel.
"Many people in our village were attacked by a strange spirit that made them shiver and act in a crazy way.”- Halima Ibrahim,
Mother of malaria patient.
September 05, 2013 - CHAD - An emergency operation is under way in the Salamat region of Chad after an "alarming" rise in cases of malaria.
Malaria parasites infect two blood cells. (Lennart Nilsson / Scanpix).
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said the number of reported new cases rose from 1,228 in the first week of August to 14,021 by the end of the month.
Cases of the mosquito-borne disease do peak during the July to November rainy season.
But MSF Health Advisor for Chad Dr Turid Piening said the sudden high spike in this area is unusual.
She said: "More than 80% of people who are coming for consultations are coming because they are infected with malaria, normally its 30%-40% at this time of year.
"It is now the top illness diagnosed in our clinics and that is unusual for this area."
A quarter of all deaths in Chad are attributed to malaria and it is the most common cause of death for children, according to MSF.
Latest available figures from the World Health Organization show more than 650,000 people died around the world from the disease in 2010, most of them children in Africa. "Strange Spirit"
An MSF team working in the town of Am Timan was alerted to a sharp increase in cases in July by government health officials.
However, this sudden rise has not been officially recognised as an outbreak.
"Many people in our village were attacked by a strange spirit that made them shiver and act in a crazy way," said Halima Ibrahim whose eight-year-old daughter Salimata Ali contracted Malaria.
"My daughter started to shiver, she also complained of a headache and pain in her joints. We prayed but the sickness remained."
MSF doctors came across Salimata before she became too sick to treat. She is now on anti-malaria drugs.
Halima Ibrahim's daughter Salimata Ali contracted malaria.
Dr Piening said despite malaria being one of Chad's biggest killers, most people in Salamat have no access to life saving drugs or simple life saving mosquito nets.
"They are a nomadic population. The best way to protect yourself against malaria is to sleep under mosquito nets, that can stop 60% of the transmission.
"Most people in these areas don't have bed nets. They sleep in the open or in little huts so they are very vulnerable."
The cause of the sudden increase in cases is unclear.
Dr Colin Sutherland, and expert in parasitology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said it could be down to a particularly bad rainy reason, and - potentially - more malaria-infected mosquitoes.
He said: "Perhaps there is even something going on in the mosquito population that means there is more around than normal and that means there are additional transmissions going on.
"That would be concerning. It would suggest control measures aren't keeping things in check in that area."
Dr Sutherland said another possibility was that MSF staff had been more effective at dealing with the problem. - BBC.
August 02, 2013 - CANADA -A mysterious paralysis has been killing crows and ravens in northern
B.C., and now some Islanders are concerned the unusual deaths could be
much closer to home.
Two crows rest on a rock near the Oak Bay Marina. A mysterious paralysis
killing corvids (ravens and crows)
in northern B.C. has some concerned
about West Nile Virus closer to home.
Don Denton
"I have noticed several dead crows on the sidewalk over the past few
days," said Vancouver Island Oak Bay resident Bill Smith in a letter to
the News, noting that some crows were seen struggling to walk.
"I decided to Google 'dead crows' and was quite surprised what I found
... Let's hope this is not the start of a serious problem."
Scientists at the University of B.C. and residents have murmured
concerns that the northern birds could be showing indications of West
Nile Virus, especially as the corvids are most susceptible and often act
as an early warning system. However, B.C. has not had any reports of
West Nile in humans since 2010, and the province does regular testing of
the mosquitoes in different regions of B.C.
Oak Bay manager of parks Chris Hyde-Lay said the district has had no
official reports of dead crows this year. However, birds are typically
disposed of and are not sent for testing.
Leona Green, who runs the Hillspring Wildlife Rehabilitation facility in
Dawson Creek and received calls about the unusual dying corvids, says
she has had dozens of reports of the paralyzed or dead birds since the
end of May. While, at first, she had been instructing people to safely
dispose of the birds, the increased calls in the past two weeks
surprised her.
On July 30, with upwards of 25 birds brought to her,
she sent six specimens to be autopsied by the provincal Animal Health
Lab - protocol when non-typical deaths occur in species. Results are
expected within two weeks.
"I've never seen anything like this. The birds are alert, their wings
move, but their legs are paralyzed from their spine. We are really
scratching our heads over this," Green said. "Being as I am not really a
scientist, I can't confirm what it might be, just that I've sent the
samples off, and that's all we know for now."
So far in Canada this year, two samples of mosquitoes and one bird have
tested positive for West Nile in Ontario. No new activity has been
reported from Washington State, however new positive mosquito samples
have been found in Oregon, Idaho and California.
"It is extremely unlikely that the birds in the Peace River area have
West Nile Virus," said provincial vet Helen Schwantje. Although corvid
deaths are not unusual, Schwantje suggests the public report any number
of species dead within close proximity to each other to the Interagency
Wild Bird Mortality Investigation Protocol, and the B.C. Centre for
Disease Control.
The act of testing is paramount said Brian Starzomski, assistant
professor of environmental studies and ecology at the University of
Victoria. While Starzomski said he, too, has seen dead crows in the area
this year, there are many reasons for death, which could include
young-bird mortality rates, species-specific diseases or even poisons in
the region.
"It is extremely important to reports birds, especially in cases where
we see unusual death, and it's in everyone's best interest to make sure
these numbers are tracked," he said. "Mosquitoes transfer diseases from
disease-bearing animals, so they become the conduits, so to speak."
Dr. Richard Stanwick, Chief Medical Health Officer for Vancouver Island
Health Authority, said while it's extremely unlikely that West Nile has
entered B.C. or the Island, that doesn't mean people should let their
guards down.
"We have to consider how our climate is changing, and that means the
mosquitoes are seeing a longer breeding season and have more opportunity
to progress through the cycles," said Stanwick. "We have been very
fortunate to live in a zone that is considered relatively safe but, with
many diseases, it's really just a matter of time."
At least 13 identified species of mosquitoes inhabit the Island and
Stanwick said that, while birds like crows are most susceptible in their
interactions, simple precautions are still important for humans,
especially when around water-based and forested areas: precautions like
using a repellent, staying in at dawn and dusk or keeping covered.
"The thing about West Nile is that it is a very interesting virus, and
we can't say how it will react in everyone," said Stanwick. "Certainly,
it can cause very serious conditions, and people here do travel a lot,
so it is something they need to be aware of. However, there is a much
greater chance they could contract it somewhere else." - VIC News.
Gallinippers, which are 20 times the size of a typical mosquito and pack
a painful bite, have been spotted in Seminole County, according to
officials.
Entomologists at the University of Florida predicted earlier this year
that the mega mosquitoes, about the size of a quarter, would invade the
Sunshine State in 2013, a year after being spotted in Florida following
drenching rains from Tropical Storm Debbie.
Kelly Deutsch, the director of Seminole County Mosquito Control, said gallinippers, officially known as psorophora ciliate,
are treated the same as any other species. Deutsch said recent rains,
including the dousing from Tropical Storm Andrea earlier this week, will
likely cause a spike in all mosquitoes.
Seminole County began pre-treatment spraying in area swamps several months ago.
UF entomologist Phil Kaufman said the super-sized species is
"notoriously aggressive" and the best way to protect against them is to
wear bug spray with DEET and cover up as best as possible.
According to Kaufman, gallinippers aren't known to carry any viruses that could be harmful to humans.
Meanwhile, in nearby Volusia County, officials have warned residents of a
mosquito invasion after Andrea soaked the region. The county is
spraying near storm drains and has asked homeowners to get rid of
standing water in their yards to help keep the bug population under
control. - Click Orlando.
March 07, 2013 - UNITED STATES - Mega mosquitoes known as gallinippers could invade Central Florida this
summer as flood waters from tropical storms force the larvae to hatch
this hurricane season.
Entomologists at the University of Florida say the mosquitoes are 20 times the size of a typical mosquito, about the size of a quarter.
Super-sized: Scientist says mega-mosquitoes also known as gallinippers, left, could be common in central Florida this summer. They can be 20 times bigger than typical Asian tiger mosquitoes.
They also pack a painful bite, according to UF entomologist Phil Kaufman. He calls the species "notoriously aggressive."
The best way to protect against these super-sized mosquitoes is to wear bug spray with DEET and cover up as best as possible.
Gallinippers
were spotted last year in Florida after Tropical Storm Debbie doused
the state, but scientists predict they'll make an appearance again this
summer.
According to Kaufman and his team one good thing about
these mosquitoes is that they aren't known to carry any viruses that
could be harmful to humans.
Still people who enjoy the outdoors are not looking forward to the insects.
"That kind of makes the summer not that exciting. I'm not looking forward to that anymore," said Stephanie McNatt. - Click Orlando.
WATCH: Mega-Mosquitoes Set To Invade Central Florida.
February 02, 2013 - AUSTRALIA - Crippling bushfires followed by an epic flood have punished large swaths of Australia in recent weeks. Now plagues of disease-infested vermin and insects are threatening a cruel end to a disastrous summer. Authorities have warned of an explosion in disease, infections and bites because of the perfect storm of high rainfall, fauna dislocation and sewage overflow. Mosquitoes, rodents, spiders and snakes are the main offenders, while black flies are poised to create a spike in bacterial skin infections and allergic reactions.
NSW Health public health physician Professor David Durrheim said the risks increased as flood waters receded: "On the coast the rain event coincided with high tide and that generally increases the water levels into salt marshes and that's where the salt marsh mosquito breeds." "Inland, as the water subsides, there will be ideal conditions for fresh water mosquitoes. There will be huge numbers of mosquitoes and the risk will be much greater. "In areas of poor hygiene domestic flies have also been implicated in bacterial infection." Professor Durrheim said Ross River fever, Barmah Forest virus and Murray Valley encephalitis were the most dangerous mosquito-borne diseases: "Rodents have also been implicated in outbreaks of a nasty disease called leptospirosis in NSW and southeast Queensland. "The bacteria can enter the body through cuts and abrasions. We advise people to not enter the flood water, ensure they are covered up and if they suffer a cut they may need a tetanus boost." The warnings came as hailstones and gale force winds lashed Sydney last night, with the bad weather expected to continue today. "There's a big line of thunderstorms moving through Sydney at the moment," Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jane Golding said. "We expect morning showers and strong winds to continue." The heavy rainfall caused flash flooding and reports of golf ball-sized hailstones and flooding of roads, particularly in the south of Sydney. SES spokesman Phil Campbell said about 180 calls for help had been made with 105 from Sydney.
How to keep safe
Mosquitoes: Follow the instructions on repellents; cover the skin; avoid swamplands, marshes and other still water areas; use mosquito coils or plug-in devices at home; and, tip out water receptacles which can act as breeding zones.
Rodents and snakes: Remove waste, especially food scraps; keep doors or windows closed; and, be cautious when cleaning around dark areas behind or under large objects.
Black flies: Wear loose fitting and long sleeved clothing; and, avoid sunrise to mid-morning (10am) and late afternoon (4pm) to sunset times outside.
Spiders: Check pots or garden furniture before bringing them inside; shake clothes before putting them on; and, turn off lights when they're not required. - Daily Telegraph.
November 11, 2012 - UNITED STATES - The West Nile virus epidemic of 2012, the worst in a decade, may be notorious for yet another reason: The virus, in some cases, is attacking the brain more aggressively than in the past, raising the specter that it may have mutated into a nastier form, say two neurologists who have extensive experience dealing with the illness. One doctor, Art Leis in Jackson, Miss., has seen the virus damaging the speech, language and thinking centers of the brain — something he has never observed before. The other, Elizabeth Angus in Detroit, has noticed brain damage in young, previously healthy patients, not just in older, sicker ones — another change from past years.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Reuters - West Nile virus, spread by mosquitoes, can lead to
inflammation of the brain, damaging its speech, language and thinking centers.
But a scientist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the federal agency has not seen any evidence that the virus is causing a different type of brain damage. He said doctors may be seeing more-serious cases this year because there are more cases overall. But he acknowledged that the CDC does not collect the granular data needed to quickly determine whether the virus is causing more-severe brain damage. Still, Angus, who has treated West Nile patients for a decade, and Leis, who has more experience treating severe West Nile illness than perhaps any doctor in the country, both suspect the virus has changed — a view bolstered by a Texas virologist whose laboratory has found signs of genetic changes in virus collected from the Houston area. “I’ve been struck this year that I’m seeing more patients where the brain dysfunction has been very much worse,” said Angus, of Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital. “It makes you wonder if something’s different, if something’s changed.” And while the virus in the past has typically invaded the brain and spinal cord only of people who have weakened immune systems, such as the elderly and transplant or cancer patients, Angus this summer treated a severely affected woman in her 20s and a man in his 40s.
Leis said he is seeing much more severe encephalitis — inflammation of the brain — than he has in the past. “It is clearly much more neuroinvasive, neurovirulent,” he said. Four patients Leis treated this summer had lost their ability to talk or write. Another was paralyzed on one side, as often seen in strokes, not West Nile infections. Others experienced recurring seizures. In all, 11 of the first 12 patients Leis saw this year at the Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson had more severe brain damage than he had seen previously. The outlook for such patients varies, but most will face years or a lifetime of disability. “For the first time, we have radiographic evidence, clinical evidence of the virus attacking the higher cortical areas,” said Leis, who has published 15 scientific papers describing previous West Nile patients. Marc Fischer, a CDC epidemiologist who tracks the West Nile virus, said the agency has not noticed the changes described by Leis and Angus. “There’s just a lot more cases this year than anybody has seen in at least 10 years,” he said. “You’re just going to see more severe cases and probably a broader variety of manifestations.” - Washington Post.
