Posted on 09/07/2002 5:22:15 PM PDT by backhoe
Here are a few links to basic information about the West Nile Virus currently being so hotly discussed.
If you want the more exotic stories- Iraq, Cuba, bioterrorism- use the FR search engine... you'll be unpleasantly surprised!
WEB RESULTS (Showing Results 1 - 51 of 201,700 Matches ) next »
Get the Top 10 websites for "west nile virus"
2.
CDC West Nile Virus Home Page - Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases (DVBID)
The West Nile Virus Home Page of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an agency of the U.S. government.
3.
West Nile Virus
West Nile Virus If you have come in contact with or have seen suspicious or dead birds, please contact your local Health Department. The following link lists State Health Departments and contact numbe
4.
West Nile Virus - Pennsylvania DOH
Consult the Pennsylvania Department of Health's West Nile Surveillance Program. Includes a fact sheet and suggestions to reduce individual risk.
5.
West Nile Virus Maps - nationalatlas.gov
Maps Showing West Nile Virus Distribution 2000 - The National Atlas of the United States of America
West Nile is not a particularly virulent bug for most people, and indeed, if you live in 'skeeter country- like we do- you may well have already been exposed. I would not, however, dismiss utterly the idea that it may have been deliberately introduced to study how well & far it vectors.
Yes, though I do not have the documentation. Teenagers, I believe.
Futhermore; are there any DOCUMENTED cases of CHILDREN dying from West Nile?
No. The only West Nile deaths have been among the elderly or immune-compromised. I think the youngest to die of the encephalitis was a 50-year-old man.
It is a Bad Thing but just I can't see or even understand being terrified to go outdoors. 1000 cases in three years? We probably had more than a thousand lottery winners during that time, and we all know what the odds are that that any of us will be one of those...
I think when kids get it they don't even know they have it. My kids are deliberately trying to be bit by mosquitoes now that they know West Nile is in this area so they get immunity now and never have to worry about it but apparently the symptoms are so vague in healthy people they may never know they had it.
Our tinfoil hats must be wired together via the 'net : )
Similar "experiments" have been tried. I recall a show I saw on one of the Discovery Channel-type stations. Scientists exposed a large number of mosquitoes to a certain type of radiation and released them in a certain area. Special traps were set up some distance from the release point to capture the irradiated buggers. A Geiger counter (or something similar) was used to scan the bugs to see how far and at what patterns they traveled. I don't remember much more of the specifics. Although the radiation level in these skeeters was harmless, and it may have been a viable experiment, this whole story made me wonder what else the CDC does that we don't know about.
I was reluctant to write this, since I could catch some flak from certain people who are CONVINCED that Sadaam is behind the WNV (who knows-he could be), and that the benevolent CDC, under the careful watch of GWB would even contemplate releasing infected mosquitoes among the populace. - Nah, they wouldn't do that, would they?
It's always a good idea to be a little, err, "skeptical" of the government no matter who is running it.
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.