Malaria

[zeehag]

RIGHT NOW, HERE in WEST COAST mexico , the realities are chikingunya and dengue.
real and current dangers.
i have seen no one recently contracting malaria HERE but chikungunya yes and dengue yes.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Muckle Flugga

Well… perhaps. DDT was getting fairly close. Perhaps this is what your idea is based upon? The trouble is that DDT was killing ALL the insects. This was precipitating an extraordinary environmental catastrophe. By the 1970s raptor numbers were critically low in many areas and there were many other drastic effects. Eliminate mostquitoes? Perhaps… but at what collateral cost?

I think you are being a little hasty in suggesting this.

I see some people still believe Rachel Carson's garbage.

[JPA Cate]

Another source of information is the International Association of Medical Assistance for Travelers. You can join for a small donation, and annually, they will send you information about the diseases for which mosquitoes are the vectors, and how to avoid being bitten, which varies worldwide.

Their main thrust is that there are so very many nasty diseases spread by mosquitoes, physical prophylaxis (Screens, bed nets, long sleeved shirts and long pants, DEET on exposed areas of skin) constitute one's primary defense. The effective prophylactic drugs have nasty side effects both for the user, and to the place you visit where (since the malarial parasites soon become immune to the drug) poor people will just die from the drug resistant strain. Morally and physically, it is in your best interest to focus on the easy, physical practices that will keep you safe.

Ann

[Muckle Flugga]

Originally Posted by StuM

I see some people still believe Rachel Carson's garbage.

I see some people still cling to an extremely simplistic "kill everything" idea about our approach to complex problems.

DDT is a persistent and extremely toxic poison which, once deployed, remains in an area from months to many years.

DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) - humans, body, used, water, plants, chemical, animals, parts

DDT - Toxipedia

From which: "...However, DDT is indeed toxic. It has a disastrous effect on a variety of freshwater and marine beings. It was found to cause eggshell thinning in birds, especially eagles and hawks, which caused decreased reproductive rates. Sweden banned DDT in 1970, and the U.S. banned it in 1972, after months of hearings, because of environmental concerns. Though its negative effects on wildlife are axiomatic, its effects on humans are not as clear. DDT is linked with cancer, endocrine disruption, and reproductive and developmental effects. … As mentioned above, DDT is an organochloride insecticide. It is a persistent environmental contaminant and its widespread use has resulted in worldwide contamination. DDT can be stored in all tissue but is found most prominently in fats. With its long half-life - 10 years - and its widespread use, no living organism may be considered DDT free (#Turoslav, et al, 2002). DDT has been found in all birds and fish tested from the most arid deserts to the deepest seas. It is estimated that it would take 10 to 20 years for an individual to become DDT free, even if all DDT exposures could be avoided during that time. In fish-eating birds, such as falcons and eagles, DDT causes eggshell thinning, which leads to difficulties in hatching and lower birth rates. High levels of DDT also cause reproductive problems in fish."

It is an indiscriminate killer, and wipes out populations of all insects it comes into contact with. It is lipid soluble (but not water soluble so it can't wash away in the rain) and so it accumulates in the fatty tissues of animals which eat insects that have come into contact with and absorbed the poison.

So… your answer amounts to this: snakebites for the human population of tha Amazon are a problem> one may solve the problem by deforesting and burning the habitats of the snakes. Snakebites will certainly be reduced!

You suggest blanket spraying in a carpet bombing style of DDT from crop duster type aircraft, and yet this would certainly kill a very wide variety of insects quite apart from mosquitoes. Are you aware that bee populations are threatened worldwide? Do you think that carpet bombing the whole world with DDT would be a good way to approach that problem as well? You are aware that insects and arthropods in general are indeed vital elements in the ecosystem, no?

Don't you think it is time as a race we stopped trying to solve our problems by just killing everything? After all:

http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

I have been a lifelong lover of raptors in particular, and erstwhile falconer. I am acutely aware of the fact that until the DDT bans in the mid 1970s populations of falcons were CRASHING wherevery DDT use was widespread, and recovered steadily and dramatically since that period, a fact I have witnessed directly over the course of my lifetime. Frankly whether or not this was directly linked to DDT (and the removal of that persistent poison has coincided exactly with a dramatic recovery in raptor populations), the general effect of DDT is extremely deleterious on arthropod populations at a minimum or else it wouldn't work, would it? However don't be too quick to dismiss this connection. This review article appears clear that there is indeed an eggshell thinning effect and population decline for Raptors:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19253040

The much trumpedted "increases" in "bird populations" during the period of use of DDT may be related to decline in raptor numbers.

You appear to be an evangelist for this pesticide. Do you dismiss all concerns about it as, what, voodoo? So you think the worldwide ban is just a bunch of politicians having a laugh based on a single book in the 1970s? Of course all of that is "garbage", eh?

[Muckle Flugga]

Originally Posted by StuM

I see some people still believe Rachel Carson's garbage.

That said, I am not necessarily opposed to its use in domestic environments, such as sprayed onto the walls of dwellings. I reallise it was a64pilot who suggested the idea of using cropdusters for indiscriminate spraying, so some of the above may not relate to you. Broad spraying of DDT is definitely not a good idea, however. Above all this is because it is a persistent and indiscriminate killer or all arthropods.

[GoingWalkabout]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Seem to remember a hastily buried article in 81about US scientists messing around with the immune system of mosquitos in Africa back around 79-81.. in an attempt to erdicate Malaria..
AID's erupted in Africa around the same time .. though the popular claim is that it was created by Gays anyone with a grain of common sense would remember that men have been shagging each other for millenia without this virus raising its head before.
������

I heard from a very reliable source that it started with monkey's. Then some gay fella in the bush got lonely and horny and spent some time in the trees with a primate. He went back to his village and made out a few months later with a gay visiting tourist from San Francisco. The rest is history. I am absolutely and 100% sure that the person who told me this was a close friend of the primate abuser.

Now as for crop dusting the planet with DDT to stop mosquito bites I think it is so 60's. By the 70's they developed that orange spray stuff that seemed to work so well in Vietnam. I'm sure they could come up with a stronger biochemical agent for this century. Maybe we could put some purple coloring in it and call it agent purple. See what is needed is bigger and better instant biochemical devastation agents.

And one last thought. Our new agent purple could be an improvement on the old agent orange stuff. Quicker leaf killing. It would be great for use on the Amazon. Just think of all those C02 creating trees we could eliminate. Along of course with all those pesky mosquitos. Like killing 2 birds with one stone. A cure for maleria and stopping global warming from Co2 emissions all in one global spray.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by GoingWalkabout

Just think of all those C02 creating trees we could eliminate.

Uh, trees CONSUME CO2 and release oxygen.

Pretty much all of the rest of your post was deeply misinformed too.

Mark

[zeehag]

wondered how long it would take ....

[GoingWalkabout]

Originally Posted by colemj

Uh, trees CONSUME CO2 and release oxygen.

Pretty much all of the rest of your post was deeply misinformed too.

Mark

Forgive my tongue in cheek humor. :big grin: On the Co2.

I assume you are familiar with the equatin of photosynthesis - carbon dioxide is one of the reactants, and oxygen is one of the products. Hence plants produce oxygen in photosynthesis. The energy obtained by this process is used in cellular respiration, the equation being the reverse of that of photosynthesis - hence now carbon dioxide is the product. In conclusion, plants produce both CO2 AND O2 (gas)

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Going Walkabout

Forgive my tongue in cheek humor. :big grin: On the Co2.

I assume you are familiar with the equatin of photosynthesis - carbon dioxide is one of the reactants, and oxygen is one of the products. Hence plants produce oxygen in photosynthesis. The energy obtained by this process is used in cellular respiration, the equation being the reverse of that of photosynthesis - hence now carbon dioxide is the product. In conclusion, plants produce both CO2 AND O2 (gas)

Wind ups often fall flat on CF.. a lot of very serious sailors here..😂😂😂

[GoingWalkabout]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Wind ups often fall flat on CF.. a lot of very serious sailors here..������

Some people just don't know how to laugh. Gee. Perhaps there should be a thread on why are some BO so uptight. :-)

[GordMay]

The U.S. has reported ‘domestically acquired’ cases of malaria [4 in Fl & 1 in Tx], for the first time in 20 years, and experts say the disease could become more common, because of climate change.
CDC 'Malaria' Health Alert ➥ https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2023/han00494.asp

[JPA Cate]

Interesting to see this thread re-opened.

At this point, for cruisers, I'm thinking that our own mosquito prophylaxis is even more critical, because so many serious illnesses are spread by them, not just malaria, but chikungunya, yellow fever, Nile Valley Fever, and so on.

When we were in the Solomon Islands with a very high incidence of malaria, we had a mosquito net treated with permethrins to enclose the cockpit. It also stopped flies. We didn't go ashore after 4 in the afternoon, and all the boat's openings had mosquito nets.

I also had an outfit, long sleeved blouse and floor length skirt, treated with the permethrins, that I wore ashore. The idea is to make oneself unappealing to mozzies. I'd apply bug juice to exposed skin, then wash it off when we got back home to the boat, because I didn't like the feel of it on my skin. And, we were very careful, disciplined.

Ann

[skipperpete]

I spent a year in PNG and avoided, either by luck or good management, getting malaria. Long sleeved shirts, long trousers and plenty of “Bushman” repellent. Malaria was quite common where I lived and there was an abundant supply of Chloroquine for the afflicted workers. During my time in asia I’ve seen the possibly worse ravages of dengue fever and Chikagunya, even in Singapore and Penang , both these are reasonably common while malaria is not. Unrelated but worth a mention is Leptospirosis from rat infestations in food warehouses... always wipe off the top of softdrink cans and use a straw to drink em.

[GordMay]

“Mosquito Days”
Over the period 1979 to 2022, 173 U.S. locations [of 242 locations, in 9 regions] saw annual mosquito days increase, by 16 days, on average.
In this analysis, a mosquito day has both: average relative humidity of 42% or higher; and daily minimum and maximum temperatures between 50–95°F
More ➥ https://www.climatecentral.org/clima...uito-days-2023


See also:

"In the U.S., the world’s deadliest animal is on the move"
Rising temperatures are shifting mosquitoes, and the diseases [dengue fever, malaria, chikungunya, West Nile, and Zika viruses], they carry.
More ➥ https://www.washingtonpost.com/clima...=pocket-newtab