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BUZZWORTHY

Hawaii, Texas and Florida at Risk for Dengue Fever

Univ. researchers are warning that an outbreak is 'just a matter of time'

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by Dain Fitzgerald

Staff Writer t

Image: Flickr

Readers in Texas, Hawaii or Florida may want to be extra vigilant in keeping their eyes and ears open - but not too open - for mosquitoes in their midst.

Jennifer Welsh at Business Insider informs us of the warning from researchers at the University of Florida that the viral infection known as "dengue fever" is spreading into areas of Hawaii, Texas and the Sunshine State itself. No longer mostly imports from more tropical areas of the globe, the mosquitoes carrying the disease are increasingly a homegrown phenomenon.

"It really is just a matter of time until dengue re-establishes itself in certain areas here," said one expert. "The U.S. has been lucky that it has escaped so far."

Science reporter Maryn McKenna reports that according to the Centers for Disease Control, "more than 2,700 people between 1977 and 1995, and more than 360 between 2001 and 2004" were infected with dengue fever. Fortunately - and it's a very mild kind of fortune given the disease can last for months - most of them survived.

Via Business Insider and Slate.
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Comments (view in Forum)

  • martydotcom
    !
    It's for real, a neighbor who spends her days reading in a park wooded grove area . Mosquito bite was followed later that day by chills. excessive, sweating pain, ER admitted her overnight to get her re hydrated with IV's and a Cortisone drip.
    Signs out all over warning to use a Bug repellent
  • u
    seedtick
    !
    I live in Rural Texas, mow my own grass, spend time in the woods, use my outside grill in the evening, sit on my deck surrounded by trees and nearby underbrush, have wild animals roaming my land, and fill my bird feeders regularly...I worry. But, I guess if you are a "concrete cowboy" you don't have to worry...or if you live in sub-artic rather than sub-torpic areas you just don't care, huh?
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    PNWest
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    We must be a pretty pessimistic bunch here on Politix if the only topic that seems to get both of us up votes is one where we acknowledge our mortality.
  • Malitia_Man
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    @woodtick57

    There might not be a vaccine, but it still gives them reason to dump their toxic pesticides, that has been said to cause infertility in men, over populated areas... Either way, all in the name of the government keeping us safe right?
  • Malitia_Man
    !
    @woodtick57

    Like everything else, DDT was only banned due to the public awareness of its toxicity to humans and the environment!!! In today's society the public is so dumbed down, that they seem not to care about the long term effects that modern day aerial spraying poses to humans along with the environment...

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  • o
    woodtick57
    !
    @PoliticalSpice

    it does work, but up here in the spring, you can eat all teh garlic you want and it will not help. When the skeeters are so thick you literally have to breathe through your teeth, garlicky blood is like a sauce for the little vampires....
  • Thunderchicken
    !
    @woodtick57

    Actually, the effectiveness of garlic has more to do with your individual body chemistry than the garlic itself. For me it works quite well. Although there are times when it hasn't. For my wife it doesn't appear to work at all.

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  • FFX_VA
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    Dengue "break bone" fever isn't a concern here in Virginia, it was a concern when I lived in Panama though. It all comes down to mosquito control, preventive measures are boring but they work.
  • u
    sylehrman
    !
    Here in the Sonora desert the west Nile is already here but it's too dry for dengue so we'll just have to settle for Hanta virus and Valley Fever.
  • u
    CommonSense
    !
    Not a problem in my area, but mosquitoes are pointless pests. We should exterminate them. I know the ecological concerns of supposedly 'upsetting the balance'. So analyze the situation in order to eliminate mosquitoes but maintain the balance. Figure out the roles mosquitoes play in the environment and how we can increase/move the populations of things like flies that either don't bite people or are less likely to bite and less likely to transmit infection when they do (bees would even be acceptable, they generally don't sting if you don't bother them and they make honey), and then we can take an active role in replacing the ecological role of the mosquito with something else. I doubt there is anything on Earth that specifically requires mosquitoes for sustenance.
  • u
    CommonSense
    !
    @woodtick57
    The birds can eat flies.
    Maybe there would be problems if we don't do it carefully. Why does the "ecological balance" problem lead people to irrationally just give up and throw their hands up and say "can't be done". It's a solvable problem. We just introduce substitute populations of other species of insect for the birds to feed on.
    There's actually a very good article about how eradicating mosquitoes without doing major ecological damage is very, very doable.
    http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100721/full/4...
  • Penn1699
    !
    Not a prob for me, yet.
    If the government would fling open all of our borders to the world we wouldn't have these problems.
    Malaria is coming our way to, TB is on the rise. Until some high up politicians family is afflicted nothing will be done.
  • ConserveUSA
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    It is warmer than normal weather that brings these pesky biters in more and more. Somewhat worried. West Nile Virus runs rampant in my neck of the woods. I do have a concern...