Mosquitoes
So I have blogged extensively about mosquitoes and disease, probably more than almost anyone on the intra-web Yet I am by no means a mosquito or disease expert, I know very little. But there is something I'm really pained to understand. Malaria used to be a big problem in the United States from Louisiana to Maine but then they drained swamps and killed misquotes. Yet I get bit by mosquitoes all the damn time (midnight soccer is especially dangerous). Why don't I worry about Malaria?
I know Malaria is not carried by most species of Mosquitoes, but why were we able to eradicate particular species in the United States? Why haven't they returned? WTF?
I know Malaria is not carried by most species of Mosquitoes, but why were we able to eradicate particular species in the United States? Why haven't they returned? WTF?
posted by Walter at
7:25 PM
3 Comments:
Malaria isn't completely wiped out from that area of the country, it's just no longer an endemic. Sometimes there are outbreaks from local mosquitoes or from people carrying malaria aquired in other places. We have the resources to treat it now.
Also, they weren't even trying to wipe out ALL mosquitoes, they just targeted the areas where malaria breakouts had been reported with DDT. They knew that you don't want too much DDT in the water supply- it's poison. Now we know more about the dangerous impact of DDT on the environment, and we don't use it anymore. But like I said, even when malaria shows up from time to time in the US -- and it does -- we can easily control it.
By
Tara, at 9:13 AM
I want to stress that the US has the financial resources to keep malaria under control.
By
Tara, at 9:15 AM
this reminds me of the new strain of TB that's on the news...i dont' know if you heard about this, but apparently there was a man on an air france flight last week who has a new and very drug-resistant form of TB. TB, as you know, is one of the most contagious diseases around. the health officials in the US have already quarantined and contacted every person they can come up with who might have had exposure to the infected man.
in africa, this wouldn't have happened. and then many many more would get this strain than likely will here. it's like sped-up malaria.
the thing that DOES puzzle me about malaria is that the doctor told me today it can have an incubation period of up to a year. if so, it would seem hard to control malaria, as nobody would know it was there until it had spread to a large number of people. this i don't understand....
By
Anisha, at 7:00 PM
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