Posted on 01/13/2005 1:49:33 PM PST by shubi
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) - Malaria could kill up to 100,000 people in coming months across Indian Ocean communities devastated by the Dec. 26 tsunami if authorities do not quickly move to kill mosquitoes, a health expert warned Thursday.
Health agencies were planning to launch a massive spraying campaign in Indonesia - the hardest-hit country - on Friday to kill mosquitoes that carry the disease, said Richard Allan, director of the Mentor Initiative, the aid group leading the malaria campaign in Indonesia.
"The 150,000 extra deaths from disease that the WHO predicts could occur ... is very plausible," Allan said, referring to a World Health Organization prediction of the number of disease deaths that could follow the tsunami if precautions are not taken. "Up to three quarters of those deaths could be from malaria."
"The combination of the tsunami and the rains are creating the largest single set of (mosquito) breeding sites that Indonesia has ever seen in its history," he said.
Tsunami survivors will be highly vulnerable to the mosquito-borne illness, Allan said, warning that 100,000 could die across the tsunami-hit zone that stretches across a dozen countries from Indonesia to Sri Lanka, India and as far away as Africa's eastern coast.
"They are stressed. They've got multiple infections already and their immune systems are weakened," Allan said. "Any immunity they had is gone."
WHO said Thursday that seven cases of malaria have been confirmed in the disaster zone in Indonesia, where the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami killed more than 110,000.
The cases are showing up now because the malaria season is just beginning and detection systems have been put in place in the last few days to monitor post-tsunami outbreaks.
Health workers will battle malaria by walking house-to-house fumigating all the neighborhoods of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province, where the devastation is worst, officials said. The operation kicks off Friday.
Tents in refugee camps around the city also will be sprayed.
In communities along the west coast of Sumatra, where almost all buildings were wiped out, the main defense will be pesticide-impregnated plastic sheeting, which villagers use for shelter.
Cholera, dysentery, typhoid and other waterborne diseases usually tend to spring up in the days immediately after a disaster when clean water is scarce. These diseases, which can be deadly, often come from drinking water contaminated with feces.
"So far, we seem to have largely escaped" the threat of those diseases, Allan said.
But he added, "The risk never goes, but it diminishes."
It has been shown that the deleterious effects the greenies claim are bogus.
Liberalism kills.
Yeah, but innocent wildlife would die...then where would we be?
Very tough choice.
The primary victims will be the most radical, violent Muslims in all of Asia.
Oh yeah...scientist have declared the wildlife there to be more intilligent than people because they sought higher ground. I guess we wouldn't want to endanger any o' them smart critters.
Yeah, but innocent wildlife would die...then where would we be?
Not to worry. The wildlife has a secret sixth sense that warns them of impending danger, like tsunamis, and gives them time to run away while evil dumb humans perish.
I’m sure this spidey sense will alert them to the coming DDT and give them time to get the hell out of Dodge.
WHO? Aren't these the same nuts that keep warning about a bird flu pandemic killing hundreds of millions?
I don't even pay attention to them anymore.
What to bet nothing of the sort happens?
Wouldn't be that someone is looking for more money?
Nah.
They can spray DDT if they want. As far as I can determine it is still in use in some countries in the world.
I remember the following week after the tsunami Anderson Cooper had some "Public Health" expert on his show to talk about the dangers of disease in the disaster struck areas. This guy, a professor from Columbia, a so called expert, proceeds to tell Cooper and the audience that there is no danger of disease and that he was worried that they were burying and disposing of the dead bodies too quickly before people could identify them. I was shocked. Cooper was almost dumbstruck. How could a "public health" expert, a policy wonk, say something so stupid?
Then it hit me. This joker was probably some AIDS advocate whose only "public health" issue was to keep bath houses open and silence any critics.
It does not take a genius to figure this out. If you think about it, there is miles and miles of flotsam and jetsam spread out over a vast area. Carcasses and dead plants are decaying everywhere. All in a tropical environment where all sewage systems and public health services have been wiped out.
Needless to say, I have not seen that guy since.
But the dead will die for a good cause...PC correctness, so that's okay.
There is no risk to wildlife. The Rachel Carson book and all the other "science" that claimed harm to wildlife was found to be false.
This is simply amazing to me. We can save 100,000 lives at least. *&^^ing PC bureaucrats.
True. Good point. No DDT for them!
This is simply amazing to me. We can save 100,000 lives at least. *&^^ing PC bureaucrats.
Two weeks ago this would have really bothered me. I guess time does heal wounds. This doesn't bother me a bit.
There really is not much risk of disease from decaying bodies. In the tropics they get consumed rather quickly. It is a natural process. It is only if the bodies contaminate water supplies that there is a worry.
The lack of sewers and fresh clean water is the worst factor for the victims of the tsunami.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.