Zika Has Officially Reached The U.S. Mosquito Population
Source: Forbes
Zika Has Officially Reached The U.S. Mosquito Population
l 31, 2016 @ 12:29 AM
Professional golfer Rory McIlroy canceled his plans to participate in the Summer Olympics in Rio, Brazil, from concerns about getting the Zika virus, especially since his wife is pregnant. McIlroy and his wife live in Florida. And now the first reported cases of Zika transmission by mosquito in the United States has occurred in Florida.
Yes, Zika has officially reached the Continental United States. All previous Zika cases were the result of initial infections that occurred in other countries (or individuals infected elsewhere and then transmitting the virus sexually to others in the U.S.) But now Florida health officials found four individuals in Miami-Dade and Broward counties who were likely were infected with the Zika virus by local mosquitoes. Thus, the Zika virus is now in the U.S. mosquito population. And as before, when a few cases have been found, there are likely many more than have not been detected. Now Public Health England (PHE) is advising British citizens to be careful about having sex in Florida. Yes, this was the same type of advice the PHE gave previously to British nationals thinking of traveling to Brazil. Those in the U.S. can no longer refer to Zika as the disease that is happening in other countries.
The news of Zika transmission occurring in Florida surprised no one in the know. Practically all experts expected the Zika virus to reach the United States. The mosquitoes that transmit Zika, the female Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus already inhabit a number of U.S. states (especially those adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico). Neither type of mosquito was competing (officially) in any Olympic events or needed the Olympics to come to the U.S. Looking at maps from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), you’ll see that combined these mosquitoes cover a large portion of the continental United States. Only Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota are completely free of both species. Before, you pack your bags for Fargo, remember that just because the mosquitoes live in your location does not necessarily mean that Zika transmission from mosquitoes will occur there…but it is possible.
The Florida news means that the need for mosquito control in the United States has just ratcheted up several notches. Unlike many other species of mosquitoes, the Aedes mosquitoes are like the entire cast of Sex and the City, preferential city dwellers, preferring to closely associate with humans rather than animals. Here’s where the similarities with the TV show end. The Aedes mosquitoes are day biters, meaning that advice for avoiding bites from other mosquitoes species (i.e., avoiding dusk and dawn) does not hold. The Aedes albopictus mosquitoes can be very aggressive biters while the Aedes aegypti are more sneaky biters. Both species don’t need much romance to breed, just a small amount of stagnant water (even a bottle cap’s-worth will do) to lay thousands of eggs.
Read more: http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2016/07/31/zika-has-officially-reached-the-u-s-mosquito-population/#4953ec234e99
= new reply since forum marked as read
After the recess, Democrats in the house and Senate need to introduce bills in the house and senate to provide generous emergency funding for Zika control. Use Republican resistance to the bills to hammer them in the elections. Zika scares the crap out of anyone who understands what it can do. Hang it around the neck of every Republican running at all levels and watch them try to hide as Zika news gets worse and worse every couple of weeks. While they are at it they should hang Ebola around their necks too because the Repubs wanted to take away Ebola money for Zika but had time to go on vacation before doing anything done.
Even better, get Trump to bloviate on it. He is the greatest generator of potential killer Democratic campaign ads of all times. 
