Why dengue and yellow fever could be coming to a city near you

[xchrom]

http://grist.org/climate-energy/why-dengue-and-yellow-fever-could-be-coming-to-a-city-near-you/

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Estimated population at risk for dengue fever in 1990 (A) and 2085 (B) based on climate data from 1961 to 1990.

This past summer, Aedes aegypti – the invasive African mosquito best known for carrying the potentially deadly diseases dengue and yellow fever — made its unexpected debut in California, squirming up from Madera to Clovis to Fresno and the Bay Area.

For a blood-sucking nightmare, Aedes aegypti is surprisingly attractive: Its dark skin and bright white polka-dots make it hard to miss. Unfortunately, it is also notoriously difficult to control. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Aedes aegypti can lay its eggs in less than a teaspoon of liquid and survive without water for months.

While Aedes aegypti has long resided in Texas and the Southeastern United States, this is the first time it’s reached California. News outlets have covered the story extensively, but few have mentioned climate change’s role in the mosquito’s spread. The CDC says it’s “likely that Ae. aegypti is continually responding or adapting to environmental change.” In a 2012 report, the World Health Organization (WHO) pointed out that “temperatures, precipitation and humidity have a strong influence on the reproduction, survival and biting rates” of Aedes aegypti.

Climate change studies predict that dengue — which infects as many as 100 million people a year — will expose an additional 2 billion by 2080. In 2009, the mosquito kicked off a Florida outbreak of dengue in a state that hadn’t seen the disease in more than 70 years, and Thailand is currently undergoing its worst dengue epidemic in more than 20 years.

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[JackintheGreen]

1. We just had a dengue scare with my daughter

but then we currently live in Pakistan, so maybe take that with a grain of salt.

But the really interesting thing about dengue and malaria and other mosquito born illnesses is how egalitarian they are. Libertarians and other republicans may support maximizing the free market economy which, taken to its extremes, creates places like Somalia (say many people here) and Pakistan, particularly Karachi (to which I can personally attest). The wealthy in these places may be able to buy stable power supplies, clean water to avoid cholera, hired goons to provide them security...but mosquitos don't care a whit about that. I know three quite wealthy families who have been affected by dengue within the last month. The aedes aegypti is gonna be swarming around a half dozen Romney homes in the next two decades. Buzz buzz, ladies and gents. Buzz buzz.