Posted on 08/18/2012 8:31:24 PM PDT by dragnet2
Edited on 08/18/2012 10:06:29 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
The West Nile Virus has hit Dallas County in Texas, which has killed 10 people and infected hundreds of others.
Planes began spraying for harmful mosquitoes in Dallas north of Interstate 30 and east of the Dallas North Tollway at 10 p.m. Thursday night and continued until early Friday morning.
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
It's odd. It can be innocuous, moderately unpleasant, really unpleasant...or deadly.
I understand that the incidence of the strain that attacks the nervous system, invariably resulting in death, is somewhat higher in the USA. Could this be the manifestation of Hussein's CBW crew's tinkering?
I don't know.
Point was, not having seen one or bitten by one this summer, would seem to suggest mosquitoes don’t seem to be a problem in this region.
I’ve seen them in the past here, but thankfully, very few.
However, it's the Big Liberal Bloodsuckers we have in Sacramento that keep me awake at night. LOL
At least kudzu is edible and nutritious and its root bulb can be prepared like potatoes. A great SHTF survival plant!
Its not a horrible pandemic the way some try to portray it either. Its got a pretty low kill rate.
When it first started infecting people in my neck of the woods a few years back, I assumed that I had been infected and now have an immunity.
Its been a pretty skeeter free summer here in southern Michigan. An early spring followed by a cold snap wiped out the early hatch and the numbers just haven’t come up to normal with the drought.
Now that its started raining again I’m seeing a few.
RIP.
Looks like he was battling both cancer and west nile. Yikes!Yikes, indeed! My dh told me they came out (on the radio) yesterday and said it was West Nile, but then after reading this post, it seems there were other issues too.
It's odd. It can be innocuous, moderately unpleasant, really unpleasant...or deadly.A 30-something friend of ours from church had it some five or six years ago, and while she was able to battle it off (she was otherwise in excellent shape), she had some lingering problems. She then went to an oriental acupuncturist, and said his treatments brought her back to full swing. But it originally hit her like a ton of bricks, and she was in the emergency ward within an hour or so of falling ill.
Studies on the genes of West Nile virus suggest that it first evolved in Africa. As birds migrated from Africa to other continents in the Old World, they spread the virus to new bird species. Along the way, West Nile virus infected humans. That said, I am not so much worried about the birds, it’s the mosquitos that are going to get ya.
Obama’s fault.
Actually we have had West Nile in California for quite a few years now. County health departments actively fight it all year, every year. They spray constantly and keep an aerial eye on swimming pools being green. If your pool turns green there is a knock on the door and they arrive with fish in hand for the pool.
Oh, I've been there and to most other states...Between the damn unbearable heat and humidity then the nasty bugs....Yes we are fortunate in CA. Our bloodsuckers wear suits and ties and hopefully it will get so bad for them, they too will flee for another host.
It's only horrible if you're the one who gets bit and dies or gets sick.
I don’t know if anyone has answered your post because I’m too sleepy to read all of them. It’s in Houston, too.
I can’t stay awake and have weird dreams. I’ve read that’s one of the symptoms. And I also read that all you can do is wait it out. I’m trying to find out how long the symptoms last if it doesn’t kill you.
West Nile virus (WNV) is one of the Japanese encephalitis (JE) antigenic serocomplex of viruses, in the family Flaviviridae. It is found in both temperate and tropical regions, having been first identified in the West Nile sub-region in the East African nation of Uganda in 1937.
WNV mainly infects birds, but is known to infect humans, horses, dogs, cats, bats, chipmunks, skunks, squirrels, domestic rabbits, crocodiles[1] and alligators.[2] The main route of human infection is through the bite of an infected mosquito. Approximately 80 percent of West Nile virus infections in humans are without any symptoms.[3]
The West Nile virus produces one of three different outcomes in humans. The first is an asymptomatic infection; the second is a mild febrile syndrome termed West Nile fever;[4] the third is a neuroinvasive disease termed West Nile meningitis or encephalitis.[5] The population proportion of these three states is roughly 110:30:1.[6]
The second, febrile stage has an incubation period of two to eight days followed by fever, headache, chills, diaphoresis (excessive sweating), weakness, lymphadenopathy (swollen lymph nodes), drowsiness, pain in the joints and symptoms like those of influenza. Occasionally, some patients experience a short-lived truncal rash or gastrointestinal symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, or diarrhea. Symptoms are generally resolved within seven to 10 days, although fatigue can persist for some weeks and lymphadenopathy up to two months.
The more dangerous encephalitis is characterized by similar early symptoms, but also a decreased level of consciousness, sometimes approaching near-coma. Deep tendon reflexes are hyperactive at first, later diminished. There are also extrapyramidal symptoms. Recovery is marked by a long convalescence with fatigue...
More recent outbreaks have resulted in a deeper study of the disease and other, rarer, outcomes have been identified. The spinal cord may be infected, marked by anterior myelitis with or without encephalitis.[7] WNV-associated Guillain-Barré syndrome has been identified[8] and other rare effects include multifocal chorioretinitis (which has 100% specificity for identifying WNV infection in patients with possible WNV encephalitis),[9] hepatitis, myocarditis, nephritis, pancreatitis, and splenomegaly.[10][11][12]
...The more severe outcomes of WNV infection are clearly associated with advancing age[27] and a patient history of organ transplantation[28] and diabetes[citation needed]. A genetic factor also appears to increase susceptibility to West Nile disease.
Source: Wikipedia
Thanks for the info. I’m hoping I don’t have it.
This part…
"The more severe outcomes of WNV infection are clearly associated with advancing age[27] and a patient history of organ transplantation[28] and diabetes[citation needed]."
makes sense to me, so if you are not in one of, or more than one of these groups, the odds go up, and possibly way up. Best wishes to you.
My husband has diabetes, so if exposed he is more at risk. We do have West Nile here in Massachusetts, although I believe that all of the cases that have been identified have been quite a ways east of here.
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.