RetrieverTraining.Net - the RTF banner

ZIKA..coming to your neighborhood?

5K views 35 replies 11 participants last post by  swliszka 
#1 ·
Having had working experience with dengue/west nile and assorted human parasitic ailments I wish to express my concern. Learn what you can to protect yourself to the ZIKA infiltration.There are two mosquito species 1) Aedes aegypti who likes urban areas and lives all along our Gulf Coast plus travels up the Mississippi River., 2) Aedes albopietetus (Asian Tiger) who likes backyards/brushed areas. The Tiger overlaps the aegypti terrain but extends all the way thru New England and up to southern Minnesota. . In Fairfield, CT (SE CT) they are already monitoring the Tiger populations. Check out CIDRAP @ the University of Minnesota. A young ND woman who went to Puerto Rico for vacation is pregnant and confirmed infected. Affected travelers from infected areas have already been found in the USA in substantial hundreds. . Make sure you use proper protection. No one thought or understood 1999 West Nile and it now ranges coast to coast. Educate yourself as we are outdoor users.
 
#2 ·
I have dealt with a few dengue cases myself at work... The Zika issue is a really scary one... They are also finding a large relationship between ZIKA and gullain Barre... Which in itself is a very scary thing...

CDC is calling ZIKA one of the most misunderstood and scary diseases of our time, using it in comparison to HIV when it first burst on the scene
 
#4 · (Edited)
Update 9 May 2016

1. Dr Tom Frieden (CDC) has announced that they will be attempting thru various means to control the spread of the ZIKA virus by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

2. Florida - Has declared 17 different counties located in various locations as focal invasion points.

3. Louisiana- a) Lake Pontchartain area near New Orleans focus
b) will monitor all cruise ship passengers/crews retunring from Central and South America

4. Texas - Lower Rio Grande Valley, entire Texas Gulf Coast region, Texas-Mexico border where everyday hundreds of thousands of "legals" move each day

5. Mexico - Where substantial Mexican regions and populations have contracted ZIKA

6. Protect yourself thru proper household screening, repellent and AC. Check out CIDRAP (google) and the CDC for more info.

7. Remember we dog people "play" outdoors.
 
#6 ·
#7 ·
To each his own: You weigh the results (side-effects) of the vaccine, and the seriousness of the disease, the likelihood that you can avoid the disease other ways and so on.

(1) The story is out on the vaccine. Just a hope for the future.
(2) The story is still emerging on the disease. This virus is AWFUL to neuronal tissues. Some people say it can initiate damage that progresses to dementia. There is paralysis (Guillain-Barre like syndromes) caused by it. There is a lot we just don't know yet.
(3) DEET works for sure. As do screens on windows/doors and netting over beds (or an air-conditioned home.) But if the disease is all around me, I'm not sure I want my life to depend upon its effectiveness.

Pity the poor folks in Puerto Rico. They are facing something like out of Camus' La Peste. Epidemiologists think up to half of all Puerto Ricans might come down with it.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Update 20 May 2016

1. Political infighting on how much to spend on the ZIKA threat. Republicans approved a $660 million dollar amount combined with taking another $500 million from the earmarked EBOLA funds to total about $1.1 billion.
2. Obama wanted $2 billion.
3. 122 Puerto Rican pregnant females with ZIKA being monitored. !57 plus pregnant females located in continental USA being monitored. The CDC promises to report those observations.
4. No doubt that ZIKA has direct neurological impact on fetus development at the onset. Various impacts all negative. Older people as mentioned should be concerned.
5. California is now reporting that ZIKA will entrench itself there due to the fact that aedius mosquitoes live amongst people and when bitten, the mosquito passes that infection on to others. These mosquitoes also bite during the DAY and are not the dusk to dawn type.
6. Once again the entire Gulf Coast and riverine areas are suspect.
 
#20 ·
A group I am doing some other Zika projects with is actively working on one, but it is not expected to reach market until 2018-2019
 
#11 ·
One of the blessings and curses from the ease of almost instant world travel is the spread of communicable diseases. The Olympic folks have announced new anti Zika condoms for the inclined. The prospect of a million visitors from all over the world to the Brazilian Olympics means it will spread.Not playing Chicken Little here , but who would have thought heart worm for dogs would be all over the USA ? We did it to ourselves..southern traveling, etc.

Now , they have just confirmed on Cape Verde , an island off the coast of NW Africa , under Portuguese rule has ZIKA and it in turn has passed it on to Senegal. The Brazilian ZIKA is the Asian form , as is the Cape Verde to Senegal form. The connection is easy. Brazil is a Portuguese ex-colony and people travel from Brazil, to Cape Verde to Africa/ Portugal and on to the USA northeast.

Lastly, Canada has just announced expectations of ZIKA infections due to travel and Olympic attendance. The heck with black flies, Ahhh.
 
#18 ·
yes it it is a craphole in the first place. As far as Zika goes it as not as bad as you would think. It is winter in the Southern Hemisphere and mosquito populations are declining just as they do here in the winter. A more likely worry for going to the Olympics is being robbed and contracting something from their water or food supply.
The Olympics are corrupt and that is why they end up in places like this.
 
#13 ·
28 May 2016 ZIKA Update

1. I suggest you Google CIDRAP for more detail
2. Congress left for a two week vacation at odds over ZIKA research money. Obama wants about $2 billion. Republican House voted $660 million and $500 million from Ebola funds.No money released.
3. Prominent infectious disease medical doctors have petitioned that the Olympics be postponed due to potential risks. 500,000 foreign visitors expected @ the Olympics.
4. A German firm is the ONLY maker of the particular ZIKA mosquito trap. They have 2000 orders to be filled and are behind. Florida, a hot zone has only obtained a small portion of this order.
5. Research now indicates that half of the ZIKA impacted infants were born as result of sexual transmission and the other by females being bitten in the first weeks of fetus development.
6. The US swimming team will now hold practice in Florida versus the scheduled Puerto Rico location , due to ZIKA infestation- 900 plus case.
7. The US Gulf Coast is just starting this particular mosquito ZIKA season. A long hot summer. Hope they are wrong.
 
#14 ·
Update 10 June 2016

1. CDC/Secretary of Health/Welfare open video conference held 9 June 2016 with the Governors and appropriate local response officials of the following impacted states:
Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi , Texas with Georgia, Hawaii, California/especially Los Angeles County

2. CDC warned officials to keep watch/prepare for major infestation and public awareness.

3. Aedes aegypti mosquito primary spreader. Interesting they live in urban areas and move less than 150 meters in their life. Aedes albopictus now considered another important spreader due to wider geographic US range.

4. WHO suggests wherever ZIKA is present to delay pregnancy until crisis is better resolved.

5. Olympic officials claim ZIKA should not be an issue to alter the upcoming events. Individual athletes are making their own decisions, with some pulling out.

6. Congressional funding is still not resolved and the geographic areas are concerned. Their congressional representatives are agitating (Republican and Democratic) for quicker financial resolve.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Update 15 June 2016

Colorado which has had high historic numbers of human West Nile Virus infections reported its first 2016 case. Now a few days ago , Tulsa Oklahoma reported its 1st West Nile case. They are currently spraying pesticides in the area. The mosquito species which carry West Nile are extensive.The virus has become established in the lower 48 since its arrival in 1999.

The same mosquitoes which carry Zika are also primary carriers of West Nile.
 
#16 ·
Update 17 July 2016

Congress just adjourned for seven weeks with NO action on funding the Zika infection. The Senate passed a compromise $1.1 billion dollar bill under the direction of Washington Senator , Patty Murray. The House rejected the Senate version and did not come up with any version prior to adjournment. The Republicans objected to any funds being given to Planned Parenthood , apparently over potential Zika infected pregnant women wishing to terminate their pregnancy.

1300 US residents have Zika due to travel
2900 US residents acquired it in local US areas
600 US residents are pregnant with Zika

CDC say they will have to make do but no guarantees they can prevent Zika spreading. No vaccines available until @ least the end of 2018. There still is concern despite some saying it is overblown concern , that with 500,000 people going to the Olympics (Brazil) the virus will spread. The first case of a US Zika infected female having unprotected sex with a male who never traveled out of New York state nor had sex with any other partner..now demonstrates BOTH females and males can pass on Zika (body fluids, semen, mucus, less blood issues).
 
#17 · (Edited)
Update 23 July 2016


1. Consult CIDRAP ...google for continuing detail or CDC

2. West Nile Virus had been detected in Livingston County , MI , Costa, CA ,Hinds County , MS, Ohio and elsewhere. Remember infected birds carry the WN virus, mosquitoes feed off the birds, bite and infect humans.

3. Florida has severe concerns about aedes aegypti mosquitoes (zika carriers) living, breeding in urban communities and are currently selectively spraying with PERMETHRIN insecticide.

4. Puerto Rico has just refused to have aerial spraying on the Island despite rampant zika infestation.

5. NYC has numerous infections, births, deaths due to Zika primarily due to international travel.

6. Hot weather , moisture , contribute to mosquito spread. We are now moving into the worst time period.
 
#19 ·
Florida currently has two suspected cases of non travel related Zika (I.e., mosquito vectored). We have known this for a little over a week and are still "officially" confirming it. Both cases are in the Miami area, one in Miami-Dade and the other in Broward. It is in the mosquito population and there is no way to stop the spread regardless of the control efforts. Mosquito control is just that, control not eradication.
Perhaps a bigger problem is that in Florida we have a second vector in the Culex sp. of mosquito. We assumed Aedes would be the primary vector in West Nile but it never came to be, Culex was. Culex and Aedes both have an affinity for flavivirus (West Nile, Dengue, St. Louis Encephalitis, Yellow Fever...) and Culex are found across the US unlike Aedes that are primarily found in the south.
Another question that has not been fully answered is if Zika is zoonotic, do other animals become infected with it. During the WNV outbreak the rapid spread across the country was exasperated by the fact that birds and small mammals were infected with WNV giving the mosquito vectors a huge number of sources to become infected. The virus replicates in the mosquito gut and is past to offspring. There is no reason to think Zika will not follow the same progression as WNV.
Zika is pretty much a non worry to most of the population, but is a huge factor for those of child bearing years and will have a huge impact on how we all look at reproduction.
The biggest threat to us all is our blood supply. When Puerto Rico became endemic with it the FDA stopped all blood and tissue donations. That is huge because blood and tissue are in short supply and difficult to make up for a loss in collection. Because of this the FDA finally authorized an "emergency usage authorization" for a rRT-PCR platform to be used in screening blood donors (FDA does not specifically mention that this can also be used to screen tissue donors, only blood) in areas with active Zika transmission. Basically it is only approved for use in PR, but I suspect they will begin letting blood and tissue banks in Florida use it in the coming weeks once the infected mosquitoes become official. The FDA still advises that this test be used in a limited fashion and that banks continue to defer donors who have traveled to affected areas, women who have had sex with a man who has traveled to an affected area in the past 6 months, or has been diagnosed with Zika in the past six months. Currently it is easy to defer travelers, but once it is here you will have to defer everyone because they life in an endemic area.
As you can see the guidelines for deferral, issued in March, are already out dated. Since March we know that it can be sexually transmitted from woman to man, and that care givers can be infected (likely through body fluids) and that we have areas of the continental US with an active vector.
I suspect (I am in daily meetings with the state health department, CDC, FDA, and other public health officials) that the FDA will issue new guidance for blood late next week or the following and new tissue directives a few weeks later (normal progression). We are all waiting with baited breath because it could involve a temporary shut down of blood and tissue donations in Florida. I believe the blood industry will be granted an emergency solution such as allowing the EUA PCR testing. So far they have not extended that option to the rest of the tissue industry (hearts, skin, livers, egg, sperm, stem cells...). Hopefully this forces the FDA to fast track test approval. For those who don't know there are two kinds of testing. The first and most common is diagnostic testing that is used to determine if someone is infected with a disease and what your doctor orders. These are designed so that they are very specific for the disease they are diagnosing, means there is little cross reaction or interfering substances that hinder results. They also often have cutoff levels for detection meaning there is a set level you must have to be positive (I.e., drug testing for THC has a cutoff level of 50ng/mL, 49 ng/ml is negative and 50 ng/ml is positive). Donor screening test are required for donor products and are generally less specific and more sensitive meaning they are more likely to give a positive from substances other than what you are trying to detect and they detect at lower levels. This is done to err on the side of caution. The FDA's job is to protect the consumer and they would rather have a donor not accepted due to a false positive that have a contaminated product due to a false negative.
It is going to be a busy and interesting next few weeks.

Corey Burke
Tissue Bank and Laboratory Director
Cryos International
The Worlds Largest Egg and Sperm Bank.
 
#21 ·
Interesting. This is what I just said here and this shows up in my news feed. I have heard this is briefings and discussions (I worked in misquito control doing infectious disease surveillance during the WNV outbreak), so not shocking at all. I am only shocked it took this long to detect.

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/32511856/zika-virus-found-in-common-mosquitoes

much worse in these because they are far more common and cover all of the US with some exceptions.
 
#22 ·
I'm wondering whether Zika can also have similar effects on pregnant females of other species ... like dogs; or cows and horses. Or are its neonatal effects only specific to the human species? Might any of the ape species be affected?
 
#23 ·
CIDRAP and/or CDC

The 1st scientific recognition of the zika virus was found during yellow fever research at Zika Forest , near Entebbe , Uganda in 1947. They had caged six "Asian sentinel monkeys" and placed them on an elevated platform where mosquitoes like to swarm. One monkey became ill quickly, and from that infection , zika was found but was different from yellow fever. Uganda has over 200 varieties of mosquitoes. Subsequently , zika spread very quietly to Yap Island 2007 and recently into South/Central America in its most virulent mutated form. Also in the past year it returned thru Brazil back to West Africa, Senegal in particular. Research is being done on mice and other mammals leading to clearer clarity but no specific answers about cross species infections yet.
 
#24 ·
Update 3 August 2016

Google CIDRAP or CDC

1. West Nile is upon us from Massachusetts to South/North Dakota and all the other 48 lower states. We have trapped West Nile Virus mosquitoes last week one mile from my MA house with ponds, brooks and rivers in abundance.

2. Florida has a major Zika issue since the ground and aerial spraying of the vectored area has not prevented its spread. In addition , they now have new cases outside of the initial infected area.Concern that the $85 billion dollar yearly tourist industry will be impacted. Warnings have been issued to females to stay away.

3. Puerto Rico has over 5,500 cases with 675 pregnant females amongst them. They have no firm indication of total Puerto Rican infections. Political and financial opposition to ground/aerial spraying.

4. US military has one case of a pregnant female and over 31 others with no indication of where they acquired it.

5. My interest is not "chicken little" because living overseas for some years I have dealt first hand with yellow fever, dengue fever, West Nile and malaria. Take care.
 
#26 ·
Update 20 August 2016

1. Zika has over 10,000 infected in Puerto Rico including over 1,000 pregnant females

2. Florida's Zika internal infections have expanded to over 35 including south Miami Beach

3. West Nile continues its havoc all over , latest cases are in Arizona

4. CDC Director is concerned this past week that the Gulf Coast communities with continued heavy rains, and high humidity will not be prepared for Zika spread.He argued that Florida has been on top right from the start with spraying , personal and etc. but it has still spread. How can we expect small or large Gulf communities with no expertise and no mosquito monies to recognize and deal with infestation until too late? Chicken little or wise advice?

Google CIDRAP and CDC
 
#27 ·
3. West Nile continues its havoc all over , latest cases are in Arizona
Lost a couple on the East side of WA recently. Yet government policies on Storm Water retention ponds
continue to insist on stagnant water.

Encourage birds, snakes & other mosquito eaters to live around you :).
 
#28 · (Edited)
1 September 2016 Update

Google CIDRAP or CDC

1. 47 Florida local Zika infections. Miami Beach is now a vector place. The found two Zika carrying mosquitoes yesterday with 98 not infected in Miami Beach.

2. CDC has only about $40 million left to aid various impacted US areas.

3. Congress returns about the 7 Sept and Florida politicians say they will press to get billion plus approved?

4. Zika virus research clearly shows females capable of birthing children are the MOST vulnerable - estimates of about 70%.

5. Zika virus research estimates that older males 29% stand the highest chance of contracting Guillian-Barre Syndrone thru the bite-infections.

6. Concern that Florida's mosquitoes season which usually ends at the end of October could spread Zika more.

7. Note- a zika bit person carries infected blood, sexual transmission is clear, all donated blood now must be tested for zika before being put in the blood bank. A zika infected person when bit by a "clean" mosquito acquires the virus and carries/infects other people it bites. :(

8. All lower 48 states EXCEPT Wyoming have zika infected people
 
#30 ·
Sexual transmission is not as clear as one might think. We have two male subjects in a study group that are Zika IgM positive (active infection), one for 31 days now, the other 22, both having unprotected sex with spouses. Neither spouse has become infected. The evidence use to declare sexual transmission was not actual proof that it occurred, it was/is based on ruling out other methods of transmission. I don't doubt that it occurs, it makes sense, but it is not an absolute.
 
#32 ·
They are IgM/IgG negative, so no immunity. Also no previous exposure to Dengue or other cross reactive flavivirus.
 
#33 ·
A story of South Carolina bee colonies being destroyed caught my attention. Seems that Naled is being used for aerial mosquito spraying. I believe this insecticide is not normally applied by air as it's pretty nasty stuff. Naled not only instantly kill mosquitoes but also kills bees, butterflies and many other insects The chemical is also linked to spike in autism in babies born to Imperial Valley farm workers.
Any land owners who keep bees or farmers who hire commercial bee hives for pollination should probably be aware they need to be extra vigilant protecting their bee hives from decimation. As the Zika problem spreads through the US, agressive aerial spraying of Naled could be happening in areas not normally sprayed and without notice needed to protect bees and humans.
 
#34 ·
I heard that story too, and as our pollinators, esp the various bee species (honey bees, and many of the native bee species) are in severe decline, one has to wonder what the attempts to kill the mosquitoes are doing to the ecosystem as a whole. It has to be disrupting the entire invertebrate community, which can have untold unintended consequences (reductions in mosquito predators, such as dragon flies and some of the predatory aquatic insects for instance). If aerial spraying become widespread, that could kill off inverts that are important links in the food chain for other animals, for instance quail, which are heavily dependent on insects for the successful rearing of young.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top