...and there is not a single government agency is exploring ways to prevent mosquitoes from biting people.No exploring needed. No research needed. The answer exists and has for a long time. It's called DDT.
Posted on 09/29/2002 8:06:45 AM PDT by mhking
Sunday, September 29, 2002 - It is getting tougher for U.S. health officials to soft-soap the American people about the potentially devastating impact of West Nile disease.
After a summer of assuring us that West Nile wasn't a disease most Americans should be concerned ab out, government health officials recently jolted the public with their statement that the virus can be spread through the nation's blood supply during transfusions.
All blood donations would most likely have to be screened for the virus, it was concluded. Screened, that is, as soon as the nation's medical watchdogs could develop a test to do it.
In the beginning, however, the experts showed minimal concern about the disease and its threat to spread. The media, apparently lacking the curiosity to turn over a few stones, went along with the experts.
Health officials had assured the nation that the sudden appearance of the disease in New York City in 1999 was nothing more than a minor infestation.
Now, of course, we know better. West Nile has spread west across America to Colorado, where new victims surfaced as recently as last week. It's time for us to inquire whether the experts were wrong.
Or whether the experts in concert with the government may have conspired to contain public concern by deliberately misleading the nation about the threat associated with the mystifying arrival of West Nile.
The departure from dismissing West Nile as serious came when a woman in Mississippi contracted the disease after receiving transfusions from three infected donors. The Centers for Disease Control called that case "highly suspicious."
But finally, with the facts screaming back at them, the CDC had to acknowledge the obvious: This was a new strain of West Nile disease and indisputably had the ability to hopscotch from one American to the other by blood transfusion.
Only a very trusting person could deny that the unexpected arrival of a seeming new strain of West Nile disease was highly suspicious.
According to Dr. Jesse Goodman of the Food and Drug Administration: "Since this transmission by transfusion appears likely, it is likely also that we will need to move toward testing of donor blood. While the investigation is ongoing, we believe there's sufficient evidence when you put it all together that there likely is a risk."
Dr. Goodman added that he could not predict how long it would take to develop such a test, nor was he able to estimate what it would cost to do so.
Sounds, at least to me, like: "Good luck, we are all on our own."
Meanwhile, the infection of that unfortunate woman in Mississippi and further reports that a polio-like syndrome, which has left several victims struggling for their lives on a respirator, may be a direct manifestation of West Nile infection continue to add to the potential severity of the West Nile problem.
And now health officials assure us they are eager to get the word out to alert doctors so they don't misdiagnose patients who may be infected.
All of this stirs me to question whether the United States could already be the target of a low-grade biological attack, courtesy of our foes in the Middle East.
I have absolutely nothing to substantiate my suspicions beyond a little common sense and a feeling in my gut.
I don't know whether I am at the spearhead of such thinking or not.
But I do know that, seemingly out of the blue, we are wrestling with a mutant strain of a formerly familiar disease we now seem to know very little about.
It worries me that America's medical authorities appear to have been skunked.
And that prompts me to struggle with a most compelling question: Is West Nile an evolution of nature or is it a deadly chemical cocktail concocted by evil men?
Ken Hamblin (bac@compuserve.com; www.hamblin.com) writes Sundays in The Post and hosts a syndicated radio talk show.
Last time I checked, we've had 12 or so here in Michigan.
I think it's possible, but why would they limit themselves to "low-grade"? It's also possible the virus got here in a load of produce or something. Not to discount the damage it has done, because people have died, and that's a bad thing. But putting some perspective on it, I wonder how many have died from the common cold, or the flu, or pneumonia in the past year? I'd bet quite a few more than have died from this virus.
...and there is not a single government agency is exploring ways to prevent mosquitoes from biting people.No exploring needed. No research needed. The answer exists and has for a long time. It's called DDT.
OK...So he's Conservative...He's also a rambling old fool and a monumental blow-hard. His radio show is HORRIBLE...He can't speak without spewing a cliche.
http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/wncount.htm
Oh, so you don't like him. How about you clarify your position, lest you sound like someone who just uses ad hominum attacks to try to support yourself...
But after seeing the spread-pattern, I have to wonder. There are still some intangibles and incongruities to this whole scenario. Firstly, where are all the dead birds? Have birds and other animals suddenly developed an immunity to the virus - if so, what immunity do they carry that is lacking within humans? What, within the human vector, determines whether you will get it or not? Up to this point, there have not been a significant number of children who have died with the virus - you would expect they would get the virus and die within some reasonable percentage of the population.
Finally, why point to Cuba? If (And I still say IF) this is an engineered event, could it not be coming from elsewhere on (or off) of the continent? Actually, given the spread rate, couldn't it be coming from multiple locales?
There are a lot of unanswerable variables, given our present body of knowledge about the pandemic. I'm not quite ready to say that there is a deliberate spread, but I'm not quite ready to doff the tin-foil either...
Hey Stinky, I guess you now have an excuse for not taking a shower, your natural body chemistry repells mosquitos.
As far as making sure that your kids are wearing insect repellent, thats part of being a parent. You do make sure your kids wear their seat belts dont you? You dont allow them to play in the streets do you?
For all your paranoia, fewer people have died or gotten seriously ill from West Nile than do annually from the flu. Are you going to demand that the government figure out a way to use your unique body chemistry to drive away the flu bug also?
That's what I'm wondering. A bat eat thousands of mosquitos every day. To my knowledge, they aren't sure if the virus can be passed via ingestion. Wasn't there a case where a mother with the virus was breast feeding her baby and they were concerned about the baby? If it can be passed this way, then that would be really frightening.
Nothing to prevent a conservative from also being a rambling fool. Plenty of examples here on Free Republic.
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.