Baseball fever. Catch it!
Posted on 10/09/2007 6:16:47 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
NUEVO LAREDO - Health officials here Monday said there are now 71 pending or confirmed cases of Dengue Fever, including 17 of the type which causes hemorrhaging.Luis Eduardo Campbell Loa, director of state Sanitation District V, said about 75 percent of the city is being sprayed in an effort to control the mosquito population.
Cases are located mainly in areas south and east of the city, and centered in the Nueva Era and Villas neighborhoods.
In a news conference Monday, Campbell Loa said about 20 of the 71 cases are pending confirmation as to whether they are in fact Dengue. He said results would be available by Thursday to determine the conditions of people who were recently bitten by mosquitoes.
During a news conference last week with Mayor Daniel Peña Treviño, Campbell Loa said 42 cases were confirmed.
"We are following up on suspected cases," Campbell Loa said Monday. "At this time we do not have any deaths (from Dengue Fever) and we are making sure to aggressively follow-up on each report we receive."
Officials are using state-supplied fogging equipment to spray 6,500 city blocks in an effort to control mosquitoes.
The fogging equipment is used during the morning and afternoon, covering about 500 blocks daily.
In addition to the fogging, crews are distributing literature explaining the symptoms of Dengue Fever and urging people who have these symptoms to visit a doctor.
The literature explains that Dengue Fever is a viral condition, spread by bites from the female Aedes Aegypti mosquito.
Symptoms include a feeling of lethargy, high fever, and headache and pain in the bones and eyes. In addition, red spots appear on the skin.
Campbell Loa would not guess when the condition would subside, but said the city, with state help, is doing everything it can to eradicate the illness.
Crews are urging residents to keep their lots clean, and to dispose of empty bottles and unneeded tires. These can hold water, which he said is a breeding ground for the mosquitoes.
He reminded reporters of the 1999 epidemic in the city in which more than 2,000 cases were reported.
In Laredo, Dr. Hector Gonzalez, Health Department director, did not return telephone calls asking for his response on the situation in Nuevo Laredo. He was said to be in a meeting Monday afternoon.
Officials in the City of Laredo public information office did not comment upon the situation in Nuevo Laredo.
(Translated by Mark Webber of the Times staff. Times staff writer Miguel Timoshenkov can be reached at 728-2583), or at timo1@lmtonline.com)
N.L. dengue update
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
Nuevo Laredo is just across the river from Laredo TX. Tens of thousands cross the bridges by foot and car every day. I-35 begins at Laredo.
I look at the hygene of illegals over here, and wonder why we aren’t all dead.
Ping!
I worked for a large dairy the summer of 1971 and observed first hand the rapidity and lethality of the Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis outbreak that affected thousands of Texas horses. The virus came across the border in late May and hit the Texas horses hard in June. The state of Texas was quarantined and all adjacent states went into emergency vaccination against the disease with the use of the USAF vaccine against VEE. Dengue Fever could have the same rapidity with the help of the mosquito as did VEE that summer. I’d hate to see another virus do this...
I am as against illegal immigration as the next Freeper, but let us be above bigotry and not make such derogatory statements. Dengue Fever is caused by a Flavivirus and the mode of transmission is via bites from the Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes in endemic areas. It is usually a disease of tropical and subtropical areas like Nuevo Laredo. Personal hygiene has nothing to do with it. Sanitary conditions such as undrained ditches that are breeding grounds for mosquitoes, however, do contribute to epidemic outbreaks. We see Dengue Fever in Miami, the Florida Keys, as well as in the deep bayous of Louisiana frequently. (Disclosure - I’ve practiced medicine in all of these areas during my career and can personally testify to this fact.)
Funny thing about infectious diseases, these little critters have no racial or religious preference. Bacterias and viruses can care less where you’re from.
I’m glad you pointed this out. I was about to make a similar comment.
Since you're a doc, maybe you can tell me: Does this mean that I'm immune to getting it again?
They don’t call it “break bone fever” for nothing. There are several strains of the Flavivirus that causes Dengue Fever (4 serotypes as I recall). You will only be immune to the serotype that infected you.
Thanks for the response! So ... looks like a three in four chance instead of a four in four chance! Well ... maybe I could weather it again. Wouldn’t want to have to, though! Yipes.
Roll out the DDT boys or tonight we dine in Hell!
Baseball fever. Catch it!
DDT.
South Texas is a very interesting and unique climate zone. I’m not sure how far north these mosquitos will spread, or if this fever can only be carried by this particular mosquito.
Good thing there's no EPA or OSHA in Mexico...
You know you're a Sports Fan when... you see this headline and think to yourself "Oh my God, how is that going to affect the Playoffs?"
I live north of Austin and that particular type of mosquito lives here. Unlike most, they feed any hour of the day. Seem to be the only type that like me.
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