West Nile Virus- Bring Back DDT?

various links | 8-05-02 | The Heavy Equipment Guy

[Lucky]

Your reply #3 says: most of the newer insecticides are analogs of nerve gas agents...This is very interesting because two times I have used insect spray with DEET in them and both times it felt like there was something wrong with the nerves in my body. This feeling lasted a week each time. Anybody else have trouble with DEET?

[backhoe]

Yes, DEET makes me queasy... I'm not sure if that's a systemic reaction, conditioning to dislike the smell, or what, but I usually avoid the stuff and wear heavy sleeves, jeans, hat- and sweat a lot! A good cheap Swisher Sweet cigar is handy, too...

[Lucky]

Lol, sounds good!

[Lucky]

Here's the 3 little words that nobody likes to say: I don't know.

[sam_paine]

Anybody else have trouble with DEET?

Yeah. I have trouble when I run out of it!

You like chiggers laying their larvae inside the layers of your skin to chew on it for a week or so?? Ah, yes!!! Nature is soooo wonderful and pure!!!!! LOL!

[Lucky]

Well, no I don't. I just thought maybe the old DDT might be better than the new DEET.

[lepton]

No doubt...it goes along with all the fecal material.

Did you know that Uranium can be found in health-food stores?

[backhoe]

I've also noticed that back when I did mechanical work involving getting my hands in degreasers, gasoline, and other volatile solvents, the bugs didn't seem to like biting me much- guess they didn't like the flavor!

[BallandPowder]

Powder..Patch..Ball FIRE!

Anybody else have trouble with DEET?
Yeah. I have trouble when I run out of it!
You like chiggers laying their larvae inside the layers of your skin to chew on it for a week or so?? Ah, yes!!! Nature is soooo wonderful and pure!!!!! LOL!

I don't use anything but powdered sulpher when going into the wilds... a little in my socks and around my waistband and dusting on the back of my neck keeps me chigger and tick free /also slows down the skeeters and flys. No pesticide and no bad reactions... FWIW..

[backhoe]

I don't use anything but powdered sulpher when going into the wilds...

I have heard of that remedy from some older relatives, a long time ago. Seems like it would be worth a try.

[HairOfTheDog]

It is not like we don't have other pesticides that can kill mosquitos.... we can kill mosquitos without DDT.

[backhoe]

That may be, but what the county & city uses down here doesn't even discourage them, let alone kill them- it just makes them angrier. I am serious.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, mosquitos aren't that hard to kill... but doing anything on a blanket scale is... the difficulty is not that the poison isn't potent enough...

The trick is poisoning them without poisoning everything else... We don't need to kill everything trying to save anything.

This virus is not new... It has been moving around for a few years now... It rarely is fatal, few people that are exposed to it even get sick, and most of those that do get sick recover... Most horses that get it recover also... and there is a horse vaccine for it. I imagine they are working on a people vaccine, but those take longer to get approval.

I am not ready to throw the baby [eagles] out with the bathwater just because the media is trying to panic everyone over it.

[backhoe]

West Nile Virus Will Sweep Across Whole US

[backhoe]

OK, your position is clear- as is mine. We'll simply disagree, and lobby our respective points.

[backhoe]

More:

100 things you should know about DDT

[thucydides]

One of the things not mentioned is that in addition to deaths from malaria, the prevalence of mosquito borne disease is causing millions of cases of blindness and other permanent harm to survivors. Somewhere I saw a number of 15 million annual cases, in addition to the 3 million deaths. All for the sake of political correctness, and to pander to the irrational chemophobia of a poorly educated public.

[Sacajaweau]

DDT: Bring it back is correct but then apparently a bird is more important than a father, mother, grandchild etc..and we all know how environmentalists feel about human lives.

Sac

[backhoe]

Appreciate the comment, Sac- thanks for stopping by.

[thucydides]

It`s not even a case of a bird being saved; the studies summarized on this topic at www.junkscience.com show that the claims of DDT harming birds are unfounded.