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August 1, 2011

General Insect Repellent

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 2:29 pm

The difficulty with all-purpose insect repellent is that no one insect repellent will repel all insects. There are so many different species of insects that nothing will deter them all. Some insects in some areas for example have been especially focused, like bed bugs in New York, and so they have developed a tolerance to repellents that does not exist elsewhere.

This is not such a problem if you know the area where you are staying, because you will know the most prevalent insect pests in your area, but what about if you go on holiday? You may take a box of your favourite mosquito ointment to Acapulco on your dream vacation only to find that there are no mosquitoes there but that the sand flies are murderous.

Mosquitoes are not really difficult in Scotland, but midges are in the summer and mosquito repellent does not have an effect on midges (or sand flies) even though they get up to the same type of monkey business. The key is local information. Before you go anywhere attempt to do some research on local problem insects.

In fact, unless you know that your favourite mosquito repellent works where you are going, there is not a lot of point taking it with you, since the locals will already have the best repellents for their own specific local problem insects. The only potential exception is a cream with a high percentage of DEET.

It may be illegal where you are going to sell a cream containing over 25% DEET, but you feel safer with 50%. I know that I would feel far less at risk with 50% DEET, if I were going to Gambia, where the world’s most toxic mosquitoes lives.

Another pesticide that kills pretty much all insects (except bed bugs) is permethrin, but you might not be able to buy it where you are going. The difference between DEET and permethrin is that DEET repels mosquitoes by confusing their senses – basically, you slip under their RADAR – but permethrin kills insects.

This confusion works for plenty of insects that perceive their prey by carbon dioxide emissions like ticks and possibly bed bugs. Permethrin is not so effectual against bed bugs because they have a waxy coat which does not allow the chemical to actually reach their skin, where it would kill them.

This waxy coat can be removed, but you will not have time if on vacation to do it. The overall best answer to most, but not all insect pests is putting DEET at about 25-35% on your skin, which will give you five to eight hours protection and spaying permethrin on your clothes. Permethrin can last up to six months and can survive several washes.

If you are sitting outdoors it is a good tactic to hang up a bug zapper – the kind that has an ultraviolet lamp inside a highly charged electric grill. A handheld racquet style bug zapper is also good for clearing a tent or bedroom of a few mosquitoes or flies before retiring.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on several subjects, but is currently involved with finding a home remededy for mosquito bites. If you would like to know more, please go to our web site at Getting Rid of Mosquito Bites.

July 25, 2011

Natural Mosquito Repellents

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 1:29 pm

We all realize that mosquitoes are a nuisance. None of us likes being bitten by them. Most people say ‘bitten’ although this not accurate. ‘Stung’ is also not true. What the mosquito is really doing is taking some of your protein in the form of blood though her proboscis, so that her eggs will have something to feed upon while they are developing.

In consequence, your blood is supplying the albumen (the ‘white’) of the mosquitoes’ eggs. It therefore follows that it is only the female mosquito that ‘bites’. In the course of sucking your blood, the mosquito squirts some juices into you. It is not fully understood what these liquids contain, but one is an anti-coagulant to keep your blood fluid and another might be a pain-killer so you do not feel the proboscis entering your pore. Some think that there might also be an antiseptic, but it is not accepted by every one.

Some mosquitoes also introduce other parasites into you, which can result in diseases like malaria, dengue, yellow fever and Japanese jungle encephalopathy. Mosquitoes are to blame for killing millions of people every year. Luckily the fluid that they inject comes from another source other than where they store the blood they have already taken, otherwise they could distribute AIDS as well.

Having said all that, another indirect cause for alarm is in the prevention of mosquito bites. The single most effective method of stopping mosquitoes landing on you is spreading mosquito repellent on your skin, and the most successful mosquito repellents contain DEET. However, it is now thought that the regular use of DEET can cause neurological problems. Therefore, it worth looking for natural mosquito repellents.

Regrettably, there is no mosquito repellent as reliable as DEET, but some combinations of treatments are nearly as effective. For instance, some people say that mosquitoes are attracted to people who have eaten bananas, so you could avoid bananas if you are nearby mosquitoes. Others say that mosquitoes are less likely to go for people who have eaten garlic or Yeastvite or Bovril.

Mosquitoes abhor the smell of lemons, so a local application of lemon juice is very effective although the effect only lasts about thirty or forty minutes. However, there is a plant called the citronella and this deters mosquitoes equally as well. The citronella does not smell of lemons unless it is disturbed, but then it is very aromatic.

Grow them in pots on your window cills, on your deck or on your patio. The wind blowing through them is enough to release the odour. You can also collect the dead leaves and put them in your pillow. You could also rub green leaves directly onto your skin.

There are quite a few natural mosquito repellents, but they do not all work for everybody and nobody understands why. One theory is that diet and alcohol affect your appeal to mosquitoes. It is also possible that mosquitoes in different regions like different types of people, so it is always worth asking for local advice.

Owen Jones writes articles on several topics, but is now concerned with Hand Held Insect Killer devices and stationary units at Electronic Insect Killers.

July 23, 2011

How To Protect Yourself At The Barbecue In The Summer

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 1:40 pm

The summer is the time for barbecues, backyard parties, lounging in the backyard or bathing in the pool. It is also the time for insects, usually of the flying variety. Flies and mosquitoes can be everything from mildly annoying to downright perilous. So what can you do to protect yourself in the backyard during the summer?

The first thing to do is start clearing up your backyard before the summer begins. Mosquitoes breed in still water and it only has to be a half-inch deep. This means that you ought to keep the gutters free from dropped leaves and other blockages.

Blocked gutters and drains are prime breeding grounds, but so are all items that can hold rainwater. Flower pots, buckets, old tyres and folds in sheets are others.

Drill holes in pots, bins and old tyres; pull tarpaulins tight, upturn boats and canoes and if you have water features, make sure that there are either guppies or goldfish in there too, because they are well-known for feeding on mosquito larvae.

Making a pre-emptive strike on mosquito breeding grounds will radically lessen the number of mosquitoes in your garden and thereby reduce your liklihood of being given West Nile virus (in the USA). It will also protect you against E.coli.

However, your neighbours may not be as particular as yourself, so mosquitoes will still come into your backyard. To protect yourself from these spray insect repellent containing DEET (25% +) on your clothes and exposed skin to avoid mosquito bites.

In the twilight, hang a bug zapper with a blue light and an electrified coil in the environs of where you are sitting. The best ones also use pheromones to lure mosquitoes, especially octenol.

Some species of mosquitoes hang around animals, so rub some natural mosquito repellent on your dogs or do not allow them to lie at your feet.

Do not use DEET on them because they will lick it off and become sick. Use citronella oil, lemon oil or garlic. There are plenty of others as well, but they are not as effective or as long-lasting as DEET.

If you are cooking, and who would not be, be cautious of meat, particularly chicken and pork. If the meat is frozen, thaw it gradually and keep it in the fridge until minutes before you are going to cook it.

The risk zone is between 40-140F, when bacteria will grow very quickly and flies will lay eggs in it. If you have to store the meat out of the fridge, store it ‘under water’, that is, in a marinade, so that flies can not get at it and it is out of strong sunlight.

Keep food and drinks apart, so that the fridge is not opened so frequently as to permit the temperature to increase above 40F. Use two sets of kitchen utensils, one to handle uncooked meat and fish and one to take cooked meat and fish off the flames otherwise you will contaminate the cooked food.

Use a meat thermometer to check that the food is cooked: 160F for meat and 165F for chicken. Discard cooked food not consumed after two hours or after one hour if the ambient temperature is over 90F. If you would like to use marinade up on cooked food, boil it first.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on several topics, but is currently involved with the anopheles mosquito. If you would like to know more just go to our website at Mosquito Bite Swellings.

July 20, 2011

Studying Insects

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 3:58 pm

The study of insects is known as entomology. Entomology is a sub-section of biology and is one of the oldest sciences. Man has studied the habits of insects, normally with a view to eradicating them, since the first plague of locusts landed on primitive farmers’ crops tens of thousands of years ago. However, entomology was not really recognized and learned as a science until the Sixteenth Century.

Entomology has had many famous devotees but the most famous was Charles Darwin. More recent entomologists are Karl von Frisch the Nobel Prize winner for medicine in 1973 and E. O. Wilson the two time Pulitzer prize winner.

Entomologists are also often credited with helping solve murders by studying the insects that are found on and in the dead body. This is very possible and not only a trick used in Hollywood films.

The first thing to realise is that not all bugs are insects. For instance, spiders are not insects, but numerous entomologists are not so strict and have an interest in arachnids (spiders), worms, slugs and snails.

All insects pass through a number of stages of life, but there are two kinds of insect development ’simple metamorphosis’ and ‘complete metamorphosis’.

The first sort includes most beetles and bugs like bed bugs. They are born as eggs and hatch into larvae (nymphs), which, if not perfect copies of their parents do look a lot like them

The second sort are also born as eggs, also hatch into larvae, but they look nothing like their parents – so dissimilar in fact that if you do not know what they are, you could not imagine. The larva then grows into a pupa when it appears to become dormant, this is not the case though, there is plenty going on and when it comes out from the pupal stage it is unrecognizable. Butterflies are like this.

If you would like to study insects, you have to focus because there are at least 1.3 million species of insects that we have found so far and there are lots more to name and classify.

You would be forgiven for thinking that these unknown insects, worms, slugs and beetles et cetera are all in remotest Africa or in deep jungles, but last year a carnivorous slug was discovered in a backyard in the centre of Cardiff in the UK.

In order to study insects, you usually have to catch them without killing them. This means nets and traps. it is simple enough to get a butterfly net (or fishing net) and you can create your own pitfall traps for ground beetles. You will also need a good book to help you classify your find and a magnifying glass to be able to better see it.

One word of caution though: you may think that there are too many insects and that no one really cares about them, but this is not the case. There are numerous insects in every country that are protected and you will be breaking the law by taking them or hurting them, so the first thing to do is find out which ones you may study and which ones it is better to leave alone.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on a number of topics, but is currently involved with finding a home remededy for mosquito bites. If you would like to know more, please go to our web site at Getting Rid of Mosquito Bites.

Mosquitoes In The North-East USA

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 1:37 pm

Were you aware that Eastern Equine Encephalitis can be spread to humans? It is rare, but mosquitoes can give humans EEE and at least one resident of Middleborough can confirm it. What is more EEE is worse for humans than West Nile Virus, which is spread by the same species of mosquito in the North East of the United States.

Eastern Equine Encephalitis attacks the brain and the nervous system and frequently either kills of leaves its victim in significant trouble.

The one man who is known to have been contaminated with EEE in NE America in August 2010, is still in an invalid chair a year afterward and there is no anticipated end to his pain.

The health authorities in close by Plymouth and Bristol counties where there were also plenty of these mosquitoes (Culex pipiens) last year have warned that this could be a bad year for them as well.

They warned householders to begin on home defence by repairing fractured and damaged fly screens now. They have also recommended clearing up mosquitoes’ breeding grounds.

This involves up-turning any containers that could hold water for them to breed in. Do not forget that a mosquito only needs a half inch of water to lay 400 eggs. Drill holes in flower pots and long forgotten tyres so that they cannot retain water any more.

Old tyres are cited as one of the foremost reasons for the increase of mosquitoes and the dispersion of new species.

The next couple of weeks are the linchpin of how many mosquitoes will be around later in the summer and autumn. The more you exterminate now, the fewer there will be to breed further generations and mosquitoes can breed a new generation roughly every month.

That is 1×400x400×400 mosquitoes each quarter for every mosquito that escapes. A great-grandmother mosquito can become responsible for 64 million offspring every quarter!

These mosquitoes (C. pipiens) breed in water, but hang out in damp, dark undergrowth, so you could spray in there as well. Some local authorities have been out spraying the parks and verges, but you can do your bit by taking care of your own micro-environment – your backyard, shed and garage.

EEE has not been seen this year in the North East so far, but West Nile Virus has been encountered twice already. The weather has been ideal for mosquitoes – rain followed by warm weather.

The indications of West Nile and Easter Equine are comparable to those of flu. The difference is that around 1% of those with WNF might die, but far more with EEE will almost certainly die. Around a third will suffer permanent brain damage

People are worried by last year’s incident. For example, the authorities in Plymouth County have already received almost 10,000 requests to spray against mosquitoes. This situation can only get worse unless residents help by checking their gardens and nearby garbage ground for likely breeding sites and destroying them. But it is not easy, mosquitoes can breed in a waste potato chip packet, so refuse becomes a big topic too.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on more than a few topics, but is now involved with how to stop mosquito bite itch. If you want to know more, please go to our website at Getting Rid of Mosquito Bites.

The Fight Against Mosquitoes Around The Globe

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 12:09 pm

Winnipeg has long been Canada’s mosquito capital, but Edmonton is challenging it this year. These days, mosquito traps in Edmonton are catching five times more mosquitoes that those in Winnipeg. Rainy spells followed by warm weather are responsible for the colossal rise in the number of these maddening insects.

Inhabitants of Edmonton are asking for a substantial increase in the budget to combat the mosquito populace which can carry West Nile Virus. West Nile Virus delivers symptoms similar to a severe bout of flu, although older and younger victims have passed away from epidemics. County health officials are considering spraying public areas before official public festivals to reduce the incidence of biting.

On the other side of the world, in Sidney, Australia, the parks department has also begun its anti-mosquito spraying plan and residents are invited to call in to become added to a ‘no spray’ list, if they are afraid of the toxicity of the insect spray. It is considered that most people will prefer having their block and backyard sprayed as the numbers of mosquitoes are rising there too.

However, the spraying program has always proved a success in the past and will like continue to be so. This year it will be supplemented by poisoning ponds and lakes with larvacide, which is a more helpful form of control adding fish to the ponds that consume mosquito larvae would be an even better manner. The tablets are known as Altosid and last for 30 days, although they are also considering using XR which works for 150 days.

West Nile Virus is also a difficulty in Sidney, although there have not been any recorded cases yet. This means nothing though as most individuals who get WNF think that they have a summer cold. The city health authorities say that they are continuing to trap mosquitoes and carry out autopsies on dead birds to get an early notification of a likely WNV epidemic.

The city health department is warning all those over 50 years of age and those with a weakened immune system to take extra care by using a repellent including DEET, picaridin or lemon eucalyptus oil on bare skin and by wearing long trousers and long-sleeved shirts at dusk and at dawn.

They are also recommending doing basic maintenance and repairs about the home and garden. In particular, fly screens ought to be repaired and all stagnant water should be drained. They advise drilling holes in any old tyres and containers that can hold water, because mosquitoes just need a half inch of water to breed.

In the meantime, in the States, anti-mosquito activity is also being pursued. It appears that wherever you go in the world, the local authorities are attempting to do something concerning the number of mosquitoes. Do they know something that we don’t?

Like in Sidney and Edmonton, they too are worried around the Developed world Nile Infection which seems to have crowd running afraid all over the world.

In Jacksonville, they are also recommending that individuals remove the mosquito’s breeding grounds from gardens and garbage ground by up-turning any bin that could hold water after rainfall. They also advocate unblocking drains and gutters.

They caution about keeping your animals safe from Eastern Equine Encephalitis during dawn and dusk and keeping yourself protected by wearing long clothing at dawn and dusk. Finally, they say to rub DEET on all bare fields of skin.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on many topics, but is currently involved with finding natural remedies for mosquito bites. If you want to know more, please go to our website at Getting Rid of Mosquito Bites.

July 19, 2011

What Is Entomology?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 3:05 pm

Entomology at its simplest is the study of insects and associated animals. It is a subsection of biology and zoology. The animal class of Insecta is by far the largest group of animals in the world.

To give you an idea of how huge the issue is and how much effort there is yet to be done, a bit more than a million insects have been classified, but it is estimated that there are 30,000,000 more species to classify.

Lots of these insects do not even have names yet and the habits of lots of those with names is still a complete mystery. This part of the study of entomology: the study of insects’ relationship with humans, the environment and other plants and animals is vital work.

This means that entomology has an effect on agriculture, biology, chemistry, criminology, forensic science, ecology, economics, food, forestry, genetics, health, trade, pharmaceuticals, robotics and veterinary medicine just for a kick off!

This means that there are plenty of kinds of jobs in which a knowledge of entomology plays a useful role. For example, if you are interested in insects and computers, you could develop computer programs for farmers to help them plan for all sorts of things from attacks by pests to pollination by bees.

If you like to be in the field, you could work in forestry. If you like chemistry, you could work on chemicals like insect repellents

If you like maths, you could work on statistics, insect populations, growth estimates etc. In other areas you could work on the genetic engineering of plants to resist insect attack; work in a zoo rearing and feeding insects both for food for other animals and as exhibits or work in scenes of crimes using the insect life on a corpse to help supply proof for an investigation.

With so many kinds of careers on offer, it is simple to find a branch of entomology to interest you. There is also a limitless supply of specimens – there are approximately 1,600,000,000 insects on the planet for each human being and there is no kind of terrestrial life on the planet that does not depend on insects for its existence. It is also the most diverse life form on the planet.

A huge difficulty that is growing year on year is the shortage of food, yet it is likely that 40% of all food produced is either consumed or spoiled by insects. If that single difficulty could be solved, it would give us a breathing space to work out the difficulty in the correct manner. It is clear that entomology will play a pivotal role in solving this problem.

Entomologists have a great deal of effort to do in protecting the environment and one of the most complex environments is the rain forest. Approximately half the world’s species of plants and animals are found just in rain forests.

Lots of of these species have not been classified and they might hold the solutions to curing a lot of of the most lethal illnesses affecting mankind today.

A century ago, the diseases that killed most individuals worldwide were not the ones that we confront now and that is largely because entomologists learned the insects that spread the virus (mosquitoes, ticks and fleas) and learned how to control them.

Nowhere near as many individuals die nowadays from malaria, Yellow Fever and dengue as they did 100 years ago, because we know how to control mosquito populations and individuals realize that it is the mosquito spreading the illnesses.

These are the life-threatening diseases, but think about how much money we spend protecting our pets and livestock. And how much do individuals spend on killing cockroaches, silverfish and bed bugs?

There is a huge amount of money being spent on insects so plenty of jobs are out there for those with an fascination for bugs.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on many topics, but is at present involved with getting rid of mosquito bites. If you would like to know more just go to our website at Mosquito Bite Swellings.

July 18, 2011

How To Prevent Mosquitoes Bites

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 6:02 pm

So, you’ve got some time off work, college or school and you want to get in the open air and enjoy it. Maybe even go on vacation. What a good idea! But what happens when you get where you are going? The mosquitoes come out to get you.

If it were not so commonplace, it would sound like Freddy Kruger and Nightmare on Elm Street. The female mosquitoes require blood to create eggs and they seek it out as avidly as any vampire in a horror motion picture, while the males go sipping nectar from flowers like fairies.

Well, that is the nightmare scenario, but it is not that far from the truth either. For many nations in the world it is also a real life and death question. Millions of people die every year from malaria and loads more from dengue too. Yet both of these diseases are curable as are most of the other mosquito-borne diseases like Yellow Fever, Japanese Jungle Encephalopathy and Nile fever.

The first thing to understand is that typically these diseases can be inoculated against, particularly if you are going on vacation. The next thing to bear in mind – it might help – is that not all mosquitoes are the same. For example, in Thailand, the dengue-bearing mosquito (often called the ‘Egyptian’) comes out during the day time and so bites then too. Between about an hour before dawn and an hour after dusk, whereas the malaria-carrying mosquito, the Anopheles, is a night time huntress.

I am not recommending that you can relax your vigilance during the day, although many people take for granted that they can. Nobody wants dengue fever either.

So, what can you do? Before you go anywhere, read up on the district or check with medical experts. That part is not complicated, particularly, if you know how to explore the Internet. Then prepare yourself with inoculations if the risk is serious enough in your judgment or a medical expert’s judgment. In my estimation, that is the minimum that a conscientious person ought to be expected to do to protect him or herself, the family and the community at large.

Then there are a few other things you can do. For example, wear loose-fitting clothes, but long sleeves and long trousers. If you are thin on top by choice or not, wear a hat or cap. Dress in socks or stockings in the evening to protect your toes. Get a good-quality mosquito repellent and put it on your bare skin, as often as required by the manufacturer, which is usually every four or five hours.

You could rationally stop there, but I like to go a bit further, if the situation calls for it. If I am outside in the garden at home or in a hotel, I like to have one of those tennis racquet style electric bug zappers with me. They are great for zapping the odd mosquito that buzzes you. They are good for clearing the bedroom before retiring too and lastly, if I’m renting, hiking, camping or caravaning, I may find space for a rechargeable lantern-style bug zapper too.

If the little so-and-sos are going to give me a fever, they are going to have to try very hard to do it.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on several subjects, but is currently involved with work on mosquito bite treatment problems. If you would like to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at Mosquito Bite Swellings.

July 15, 2011

Insects And Their Bites

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 4:22 pm

The majority of insects will defend themselves if they feel threatened. This is fairly amazing when you think about how small insects are compared with the mammalian interloper. Most insects will only atttack if you wander into their territory. There are also insects that have to drink blood and they actively seek their prey. This type includes insects such as mosquitoes and fleas.

Ants form the largest section of biters. All ants will try to bite if they feel the need, but most black ants just do not have big enough mandibles (or jaws) to get a grip. The big exception in all ant and ant-like varieties are the soldiers, which have huge mandibles compared to the workers.

Red ants can bite with or without poison and some sting too. Formic acid is their normal chemical weapon. Some ants inject it, which is what we feel when we get bitten by red ants, but other ants spray it into the eyes of its aggressors.

The most agonizing sting of any insect is delivered by the Bullet Ant of Central and South America. The Bullet Ant’s sting has the top rating possible on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. The scale goes from zero to four; zero being painless (to humans) through two for bees and wasps to four for excruciating pain.

The Fire Ant, which is famous for its painful bite ranks a 1.2 on this scale, but level 1.8 is likened to having a staple shot into your cheek. The European honey bee is on level two and the Red Harvester Ant is on level three.

Some bites and stings are not so high on the scale but can still be fatal. The Jack Jumper Ant is in this category and people, especially hypersensitives, have been known to die from Fire Ant stings, which inject piperidine alkaloids instead of formic acid.

The mandibles of the Trap Jaw Ant are the fastest closing jaws in the animal kingdom. They have been measured at 230 KPH (143 MPH). Another extraordinary ant defence is carried out by a Malaysian species: it ejects its stomach unto its aggressor. The stomach acids contain acetophones which completely immobilize insects. Unfortunately, the soldier dies because its stomach has been torn out.

Bees, ants and wasps are all related in the order known as Hymenoptera. Bees and wasps just sting although some wasps do have large jaws as well. One definition of a wasp is ‘any insect of the order Hymenoptera that is neither a bee nor an ant’ (Wikipedia).

Not all wasps are black and yellow. There are not many insects that do not have a type of wasp preying on it, which makes them very important in the biocontrol of harmful insects. A lot of wasps do not sting their prey to kill it for food, they sting it to paralyze it.

When paralyzed, the wasp lays her eggs in the prey, which becomes fresh food for her young when they hatch out. This is usually the only time that a wasp eats flesh in its whole life, because adult wasps eat nectar and honey like bees.

When a bee stings it releases pheromones which encourage other bees nearby to sting as well. The most aggressive stingers though are vespid wasps (common black and yellow wasps).

Fleas, ticks and bed bugs, unlike mosquitoes, really feed on blood, that is they use it for food, whereas the mosquito uses it as the ‘white’ of her eggs. There have been times in our history when losing a few drops of blood to a flea was not the worst thing about being bitten by them. They also carried the Plague, which wiped out a large percentage of the population of Europe a number of times.

Spiders and scorpions make up the causes of the majority of insect bites but they are comparatively rare.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on a number of topics, but is currently involved with finding a home remededy for mosquito bites. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Getting Rid of Mosquito Bites.

Arbovirus Encephalitis In New York In 1999

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 2:47 pm

In the late summer of 1999, there was an epidemic of encephalitis and meningitis in New York. Initially, all the victims came from an eight square kilometer region centered on Queens and the Bronx.

Later, it spread further, although there were merely 59 cases and seven deaths – all in older individuals. 677 individuals were tested in the original survey, 19 of which tested positive for meningoencephalitis.

Going by the size of the population of New York, it was determined that between 3,500 and 13,000 people (average: 8,200) had been infected with West Nile virus. There were almost certainly far more than that, but serious indications usually only show in the young and the old.

Those in the in-between age group almost certainly thought that they had a bad cold, which means that fewer than one percent of victims displayed severe neurological indications.

At first, it was wondered whether this outbreak could be the result of an act of terrorism, but others suspected mosquitoes. Investigation concentrated on St. Louis encephalitis. However, when it was thought to check for West Nile virus, the number of cases increased.

The reason for the outbreak was soon confirmed to be a West Nile-like virus based on the identification of viral infection in human, avian, and mosquito samples.

This had not been expected because the New York outbreak was the first time that West Nile virus had been seen in the Developed world.

Then recent bird deaths were remembered. Large numbers of wild birds, especially crows, had died recently in the region and there were deaths at the Bronx Zoo of exotic birds as well.

Examination of the corpses of these birds showed traces of encephalitis which resembled West Nile virus (WNV). When doctors knew what to look for, they discovered comparable traits in the brains of the dead humans

The authorities instantly initiated widespread measures to control the population of Culex pipiens, the mosquito in the region that specializes in attacking birds. The public was informed and helplines were established – by the end of September over 150,000 calls had been made.

The local authorities continued to spray and handed out 300,000 aerosols of DEET and 750,000 public health leaflets, which recommended tidying up the garden, not going out at dusk or dawn and covering up bare skin.

WNV is an arbovirus (arthropod-borne virus), which means that it is transmitted to humans by arthropods (insects), normally the tick or the mosquito. Previously, WNV had only been seen in Uganda, where it was first discovered and in isolated cases in Europe and South Africa.

A report concluded that it was “unclear whether the virus that caused this outbreak is a previously identified strain of WNV or a new variant”, however now recent evidence seems to suggest that a new mosquito – a hybrid of C. pipiens – living in the New York metro was to blame.

This is still not definite, but if it is the case, then the whole world ought to take care, because the New York ‘hybrid’ is related to the London Underground mosquito which inhabits nearly every underground railway station on the planet.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on a number of topics, but is currently involved with finding a home remededy for mosquito bites. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Getting Rid of Mosquito Bites.

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