West Nile Arrives (Los Angeles!)

Los Angeles Daily News ^ | September 6th | Troy Anderson

[glock rocks]

you da man, okie. silent spring, myass.

do you suppose there's no confirmed west nile birds in utah yet
due to the drought? i've noticed few skeeters this year...
and i'd know because one bite will produce a silver dollar sized welt on this
poor allergic soul. (yah, i might last about a day in alaska or mississippi.)

thanks for the ping saber.

[justshe]

Deet! :-)

[Cachelot]

I live in what would be considered a dry and arid place and the mosquitoes are really bad here

Texas? Water nearby such as pools? I've seen WN reports from places more dry than that, I think. And even counting in the mosquito vector (which is real, they're testing mosquito pools right now and many of them are positive), this thing is spreading a bit too fast for my liking - and there's at least one other virus in the same group as WN which is now spreading into Europe. Thing about that one is that it's never been seen outside of Africa before. And that this is a slightly new variant of it. Look up USUV.

There are some things that points to the Madagascar outbreak also being a virus in the same group, but the WHO has determined that influenza is on the loose there. They detected flu in a handful of the cases they tested immediately after being called in.

[justshe]

I had not thought of that!

OK.....so.......the birds (usually crows or bluejays) are bitten and infected. They fly....to areas where NEW, clean mosquitos bite the birds. Birds die...but the virus is now with a new source of previously clean mosquitos flying the friendly skies?

I am an A ----> B ----->C type person. This should be logical.

[Pagey]

"...Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants whenever outdoors...Use insect repellent products---(Oh Suuuuure)....Don't allow water to stagnate in flowerpots, swimming pools, birdbaths and pet bowls...Clean and chlorinate swimming pools and drain water from pool covers".

This is Los Angeles for gosh sake,half the summer has been around the pool after work each day.Insect Repellent (I wonder how those stocks are going to do in the next 10 years)and Long Sleeves and we're not even into the October heat yet.Unfortunately,it'll take a great number of deaths here before anybody takes this seriously.(I'm really surprised the DemoncRATS haven't blamed George W. for this 'Virus' yet. I'm sure that's coming)

[backhoe]

A few items-- my solution?

West Nile Virus- Bring Back DDT?

100 things you should know about DDT

And then there's this weird info:

The Iraqi connection
Telegragh:Iraq's chemists bought anthrax from America

Link

Link

Link

West Nile virus confirmed in Chicago burbs

Salman Pak: In 1985, the CDC sent three shipments of West Nile Fever virus to Iraq for use in medical research. Valerie Kuklenski, "Western Firms Supplied Iraq with Chemical Weapons," UPI, October 2, 1990.

[blam]

"Is it that difficult? With all the interstate commerce, seems like it would be pretty easy for mosquitos to hitch a ride inside a container or even someone's car trunk. "

A London airport worker was believed to have gotten Malaria (last week) from a mosquito stowed away on a jet.

[Victoria Delsoul]

To reduce exposure to the virus, Fielding said county residents should avoid mosquito-infested areas at dawn and dusk when the insects are most active.

This means, avoiding outdoor shows like the Doors and others. LOL, I couldn't resist.

[MeekOneGOP]

West Nile Arrives

Welcome aboard !

[MeekOneGOP]

I want to drink your blood !

[VOA]

The unidentified woman had not traveled outside the region, meaning the infection,
if confirmed, occurred locally

Last night as I was cleaning my apartment here in swanky West Los Angeles, I saw
something that I can't remember seeing before in Los Angeles: a mosquito.

I squished the varmit. About a half-hour later I found that that one of the local relatives
of this beast was already getting pay-back for my indiscretion...as I heard the
report of the infected lady in "southwest Los Angeles".

[FITZ]

I live in what's considered desert near El Paso but they irrigate and there's the Rio Grande. We're in a drought also but there's more mosquitoes than ever. The virus is here and I figure I'll get it but may never know I have it. I'm not afraid of it anymore than I am of encephalitis which is also here and usually is found in the mosquitoes. I'd rather they not spray because I'd rather have the bats and birds take care of them.

[FITZ]

There are some things that points to the Madagascar outbreak also being a virus in the same group, but the WHO has determined that influenza is on the loose there. They detected flu in a handful of the cases they tested immediately after being called in.

Don't many influenzas start or spread by birds also? Birds are bad because they fly all around and you can't control them. I always think it's funny how they prohibit us from bringing birds or eggs over from Mexico but yet you see them flying over on their own all the time. I know Canadian geese and robins will travel thousands of miles and we get almost every kind of hummingbird pass through this area.

[backhoe]

New stuff:

West Nile Virus Links to Saddam and Castro

Iraq and Cuba – Fitting Pieces in the West Nile Virus Puzzle?

[FITZ]

Is it that difficult? With all the interstate commerce, seems like it would be pretty easy for mosquitos to hitch a ride inside a container or even someone's car trunk.

Or the virus travelled with some person who didn't even know they were infected possibly travelling from Illinois to California. A human could carry the disease from one city to another very easily, then be bit by a mosquito which then bites another human or bird.

[callisto]

I can't see West Nile being used by terrorists because most people with healthy immune systems won't even know they have it.

Not to ignore your obvious points, but West Nile Virus would make a great test of the time frame and areas of pathogenic spread based on the initial release site(s) and vector as possible future reference for delivery of a much worse biological agent, IMHO.

And, on top of it, the American public is, on a whole, ignoring the issue so how aware might we be upon the introduction of another disease?

[struwwelpeter]

I can't see West Nile being used by terrorists because most people with healthy immune systems won't even know they have it.

What if... this is only a "dry run" to test how well their bird vectors from Cuba spread a relatively harmless strain. Or a "shot across the bow" warning what could happen.

In this thread, The Scotsman reports:

In July 2002, the Washington Post ran a detailed report suggesting that the CIA has found a laboratory on the west bank of the Tigris river, where 85 scientists were working on a viral strain code-named Blue Nile.

"Blue Nile" (West Nile and a hemorrhagic fever, such as Ebola?). Now THAT would be some weapon.

[struwwelpeter]

Great minds think alike ;-)

[FITZ]

That would be possible. A test of how fast things could spread. They wouldn't need to test it though because we know colds and influenzas make it all around the world very quickly. I think there's only a few pathogens we need to fear though --smallpox is a big one and that doesn't need an animal vector.

[FITZ]

It's possible they are doing this as a test ---but I don't know how they would benefit from a bird-human disease because it would spread to their own countries just as easily and they have more crowded less hygenic conditions than we have. It would be hard to beat smallpox as a biological weapon except there can be vaccines for that. The only way would be to have your own populations vaccinated and the enemy's population unvaccinated.