Rio De Janeiro is at war. The enemy is small, beady eyed, with long white striped legs and a thirst for humans. It bites during the day and likes warm, humid places. Politicians are quarreling over who will fight this tiny enemy. The infection is called Dengue Fever and comes from mosquito bites spread by the Aegis aegypti mosquito. It can make you sick for over a week with severe headaches and joint pains. A more deadly form causes internal and external bleeding, and affects fewer than 5 percent of cases but has shown signs of growing — often affecting people who have recovered from a less-severe form.
There have been 75,000 cases in Rio de Janeiro this year- with 2,000 new ones now every day. The army has been deployed in the city but they are having a tough time against the invader.
“We have to enter into combat like we’re fighting a war, to minimize the suffering of the population,” said field hospital commander Maj. Roberto Tury.
So, what exactly is happening?
Apathy and lack of education about mosquitoes as carriers of disease.
Stagnant water. Most people don’t know that standing water in barrels, plant pots, jars, bottles, puddles, ponds, tires, and non-chlorinated swimming pools, are the breeding grounds for mosquito babies.
No government intervention to help clean up affected areas, and uncovered water treatment centers. It doesn’t help that the neighborhoods most affected are the most dangerous, crime filled areas and has authorities afraid of spraying insecticides.
Here’s an interesting quote from USA Today- “Crevices in dilapidated hovels, old tires and trash piles collect standing water where the insect breeds, while kids toting automatic weapons scare away the few public health agents who might teach slum dwellers how to protect themselves.”
Why should we care?
What does all this talk about mosquitoes and disease mean to most Americans? At this point, as with other outbreaks around the world, probably nothing. But if it spreads to our country, we need to be ready, adjust our thinking and consider that not all outbreaks of disease occur in third world countries.
Since the disease was eradicated in many areas, there have been new cases along th U.S. Mexico border, moving up into Texas, and even touching Hawaii in 2001. Children are at high risk, as well as pregnant women who can transmit the disease to the baby before or during birth.
Yellow is infested areas and red is epidemic areas.
According to Reuters Magazine: “Widespread appearance of dengue in the continental United States is a real possibility,” … a commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
When elimination is simple- by wearing insect repellent, clearing our spaces of standing water, having window screens,and wearing light, protective clothing, why should we even risk being bitten?
The answer is simple. No one cares about a little bug. No one thinks being bitten would ever be a problem. Just ask someone who has lost a loved one from this disease, and maybe you’d have a different opinion. It’s time we start thinking a little bit.
But there is hope. Currently, new research is being done to modify male mosquitoes- killing the young before disease can spread. http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/news/2008/01/gm_insects
A Newsweek article by Mac Margolis shows how one town has won the battle against mosquitoes:
“My favorite example comes from a little town called Adolfo, 270 kms from São Paulo. Surrounded by cities plagued by dengue, the keepers of Adolfo knew they needed something more than bug repellent to ward off the disease. They needed citizen involvement. So they offered a carrot. Families that managed to eliminate pools of water and unkempt potted plants where mosquitoes flourish were rewarded with free wide band Internet access. The result: while nearby towns like José Bonifácio have all they can do to keep the mosquito at bay, Adolfo has been dengue free this year. The town fathers called their project Adolfo Connected to the World. They might have called it beating the millennium bug. “
