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West Nile Virus Outbreak Puts Dallas In State of Emergency
Penurious Penguin writes with news from the BBC that the city of Dallas "is experiencing a widespread outbreak of mosquito-borne West Nile Virus that has caused and appears likely to continue to cause widespread and severe illness and loss of life," and writes that the city "has declared a state of emergency. West Nile virus can be asymptomatic or produce multiple symptoms, but can also lead to fevers, and the potentially fatal meningitis or encephalitis. Birds are the most common carriers and mosquitoes are the vector for human infection."
Buy DEET, 50-90% concentration, apply liberally. The higher concentration stuff is rather strong, but you can spray it on your clothes (ie. Socks, shoes, sleeves).
They are all off changing their PSN passwords
I live in Dallas. People are not dying in the streets. We are not living out Monty Python's "Bring Out Your Dead" sketch.
The "emergency" was declared primarily so we could gain access to 5 pesticide-spraying planes from the Texas Department of Emergency Management.
Unlikely ;)
For most, they won't even know they are exposed. This is a lot like SARS in that respect. It only severely effects about 1% of those infected. About 20% get mild symptoms, headaches, etc.
It does adversely affect those with compromised immune systems though (the elderly, immunocompromised, etc).
30% concentration of DEET is recommended for adults. Certainly NOT 90%.
10% DEET concentration for children.
The concentrations the poster above is suggesting would be toxic.
Won't someone think about the poor endangered malaria mosquito? This majestic creature used to roam the plains in the billions, but thanks to eradication efforts and habitat encroachments in now roams the plains in slightly fewer billions! You know what the problem is? It's fair weather environmentalists! Oh sure, it's easy to get behind an endangered animal when it's cute and fuzzy! But they're nowhere to be found when it has six legs, sucks human blood and helps spread a deadly disease! I suppose if another spraying program is enacted, they won't be down at city hall protesting! Won't someone think of the mosquitoes?!
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
What crack have the Dallas County Commissioners been smoking that John Whiley Price has been dealing around the County Courthouse? We've had West Nile outbreaks every year since 2002ish (as I recall) and the city used ground spray trucks previously. We've had approximateley 100 people every year contract the issue and about 20 die from it. I agree with the above comment that the emergency is manufactured, but I suspect it's so that the county can get access to cheaper to purchase pesticides that have a higher chance of side effects.
Those that get infected are already on the watch list for diseases (Young, Old, Immune system compromised). It's quite simple how to avoid it
1. Don't go outside at dawn/dusk
2. Drain standing water pools
3. Wear a decent bug spray.
4. Wear clothing over most parts of your body if you must go outside for extended periods of time
Needless to say that the night when they overfly my neighborhood I'm going to shut all my windows/doors and not think about what's happening outside.
Honey bees are not native to the US, so no big deal. Native REAL AMERICAN flowering plants will do just fine. It's those illegal immigrant flowering plants that will disappear.
There is nothing wrong with DDT, you just have to use per the label instructions i.e. indoors; it does bio-accumulate in fish and does nasty things to birds that eat fish, which is why it's not used outdoors. In mammals like Humans, its very safe, used to be used for delousing people and the Sales-driods used to eat it by the teaspoon to demonstrate it's safety. This does mean that DDT is not a good fit for mosquito control in countries where window screens are wide spread; it's great for bedbugs. Bacillus thuringiensis israeliensis works on mosquitos outdoors.
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
There are hundreds of spray planes here in Texas, privately owned, all sitting idle and their owners/pilots are dying for work right now due to the nationwide drought that has killed off most of the farm crops this year and eliminated this season's work for the pilots. One of my best friends owns and flies an Air Tractor and the past two years he's only gotten about half the spraying contracts he normally gets so he's desperate for work so he doesn't have to sell the plane. He's looking into the mosquito spraying contracts, but the state is making it so difficult to get the extra licenses needed for spraying mosquitoes that it seems like they're deliberately protecting someone's monopoly or something.