DDT might have stopped Zika, but environmentalists chose mosquitoes over people

[RodISHI]

Also mosquitoes have a gene that makes them resistant to DDT.

Oh well, will have to use chlordane, or maybe we can piss on them, but the liberals won't like that ether...

We Have the Technology to Destroy All Zika Mosquitoes

No, GM Mosquitoes Didn't Start The Zika Outbreak. - Science Sushi

Two things... Many pregnant women were also vaccinated with a HIB- Dtap vaccination. So it may be awhile before they get to the bottom of who did what to cause it all.
Zika Virus Not to Blame; Doctors Cite Man-Made Cause For Birth Defect Epidemic

 

[emilynghiem]

Also mosquitoes have a gene that makes them resistant to DDT.

Oh well, will have to use chlordane, or maybe we can piss on them, but the liberals won't like that ether...

We Have the Technology to Destroy All Zika Mosquitoes

No, GM Mosquitoes Didn't Start The Zika Outbreak. - Science Sushi

Two things... Many pregnant women were also vaccinated with a HIB- Dtap vaccination. So it may be awhile before they get to the bottom of who did what to cause it all.
Zika Virus Not to Blame; Doctors Cite Man-Made Cause For Birth Defect Epidemic

What about the cases where people from US states and territories
traveled there? Did they drink the water that had the chemical in it?

Baby in Hawaii Is Confirmed With Zika-Linked Birth Defect

 

[Agit8r]

Rightard: "Cancer is better than Zika"

 

[emilynghiem]

Rightard: "Cancer is better than Zika"

It depends: Some cancer can be cured with no other remaining signs or side effects.
But if Zika truly is responsible for microcephaly, blindness, and other neurological disorders,
those can't be reversed.
So yes, in some cases, Zika may have more serious lasting complications.

Also cancer is not spread directly by sexual relations,
although the HPV strands of viruses linked to throat and cervical cancer
are blamed on sexual transmission including from oral sex.

 

[RodISHI]

Also mosquitoes have a gene that makes them resistant to DDT.

Oh well, will have to use chlordane, or maybe we can piss on them, but the liberals won't like that ether...

We Have the Technology to Destroy All Zika Mosquitoes

No, GM Mosquitoes Didn't Start The Zika Outbreak. - Science Sushi

Two things... Many pregnant women were also vaccinated with a HIB- Dtap vaccination. So it may be awhile before they get to the bottom of who did what to cause it all.
Zika Virus Not to Blame; Doctors Cite Man-Made Cause For Birth Defect Epidemic

What about the cases where people from US states and territories
traveled there? Did they drink the water that had the chemical in it?

Baby in Hawaii Is Confirmed With Zika-Linked Birth Defect

The article does not say whether she received that vaccine or what the other environmental factors may be.

Approximately 2,500 cases annually in the United States.
Radiation or chemical exposure can lead to chromosomal abnormalities in a developing fetus, decreased oxygen to the fetal brain, infections during pregnancy, alcohol or drug abuse during pregnancy and malnutrition are other environmental exposures that can cause microcephaly.

DTaP / Polio / Hib Immunisation. Vaccines and antisera info | Patient

A little infected mice brain anyone for that little growing baby in the womb?
Vaccine Ingredients and Manufacturer Information - Vaccines - ProCon.org

Vaccine Ingredients and Manufacturer Information - Vaccines - ProCon.org

 

[Weatherman2020]

This thread should suck in some liberals like mosquitoes to blood...

DDT MIGHT HAVE STOPPED ZIKA, BUT ENVIRONMENTALISTS CHOSE MOSQUITOES OVER PEOPLE
January 28, 2016
Daniel Greenfield

The Zika virus outbreak is the latest batch of blood on the dirty hands of Rachel Carson and the entire environmental movement which puts mosquitoes ahead of people. There was a time when we beat insect-born diseases through simple and easymethods that worked.

...

But environmentalists eradicated DDT instead. DDTworked in Brazil.

...

Environmentalists love control policies.

The quickest way to stop it in Brazil will be to attack the mosquitoes. The Olympics are near. Perhaps DDT will make a comeback.

...

That view comes fromHugh Pennington, a professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland who was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

The bottom line is that this isa mosquito problem, which requires eradicating them. And environmentalists really, really hate that. So you can bet Obama won't go that route.

...

We could just start eradicating mosquitoes using methods and technology that works. Or we could tell women to stop getting pregnant. You just know how much environmentalists and the Zero Population Growth crowd loves the second option.

Anyway environmentalists have already shifted to blaming the Zika virus on Global Warming, because the angry Flying Global Warming Monster is responsible for all our ills, including the Syrian Civil War, the Cologne sex attacks and absolutely any other thing you can think of.

And the Rachel Carson Environmentalist Genocide rolls on.

DDT Might Have Stopped Zika, but Environmentalists Chose Mosquitoes Over People

Yep. The West wiped out malaria and before third world countries could the West banned it. A million poor people a year now die from Malaria.

 

[Moonglow]

This thread should suck in some liberals like mosquitoes to blood...

DDT MIGHT HAVE STOPPED ZIKA, BUT ENVIRONMENTALISTS CHOSE MOSQUITOES OVER PEOPLE
January 28, 2016
Daniel Greenfield

The Zika virus outbreak is the latest batch of blood on the dirty hands of Rachel Carson and the entire environmental movement which puts mosquitoes ahead of people. There was a time when we beat insect-born diseases through simple and easymethods that worked.

...

But environmentalists eradicated DDT instead. DDTworked in Brazil.

...

Environmentalists love control policies.

The quickest way to stop it in Brazil will be to attack the mosquitoes. The Olympics are near. Perhaps DDT will make a comeback.

...

That view comes fromHugh Pennington, a professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland who was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

The bottom line is that this isa mosquito problem, which requires eradicating them. And environmentalists really, really hate that. So you can bet Obama won't go that route.

...

We could just start eradicating mosquitoes using methods and technology that works. Or we could tell women to stop getting pregnant. You just know how much environmentalists and the Zero Population Growth crowd loves the second option.

Anyway environmentalists have already shifted to blaming the Zika virus on Global Warming, because the angry Flying Global Warming Monster is responsible for all our ills, including the Syrian Civil War, the Cologne sex attacks and absolutely any other thing you can think of.

And the Rachel Carson Environmentalist Genocide rolls on.

DDT Might Have Stopped Zika, but Environmentalists Chose Mosquitoes Over People

Yep. The West wiped out malaria and before third world countries could the West banned it. A million poor people a year now die from Malaria.

Mosiquitos are an important member of the ecological system, they have more of a purpose on Earth than humans...

 

[RodISHI]

This thread should suck in some liberals like mosquitoes to blood...

DDT MIGHT HAVE STOPPED ZIKA, BUT ENVIRONMENTALISTS CHOSE MOSQUITOES OVER PEOPLE
January 28, 2016
Daniel Greenfield

The Zika virus outbreak is the latest batch of blood on the dirty hands of Rachel Carson and the entire environmental movement which puts mosquitoes ahead of people. There was a time when we beat insect-born diseases through simple and easymethods that worked.

...

But environmentalists eradicated DDT instead. DDTworked in Brazil.

...

Environmentalists love control policies.

The quickest way to stop it in Brazil will be to attack the mosquitoes. The Olympics are near. Perhaps DDT will make a comeback.

...

That view comes fromHugh Pennington, a professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland who was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

The bottom line is that this isa mosquito problem, which requires eradicating them. And environmentalists really, really hate that. So you can bet Obama won't go that route.

...

We could just start eradicating mosquitoes using methods and technology that works. Or we could tell women to stop getting pregnant. You just know how much environmentalists and the Zero Population Growth crowd loves the second option.

Anyway environmentalists have already shifted to blaming the Zika virus on Global Warming, because the angry Flying Global Warming Monster is responsible for all our ills, including the Syrian Civil War, the Cologne sex attacks and absolutely any other thing you can think of.

And the Rachel Carson Environmentalist Genocide rolls on.

DDT Might Have Stopped Zika, but Environmentalists Chose Mosquitoes Over People

Yep. The West wiped out malaria and before third world countries could the West banned it. A million poor people a year now die from Malaria.

But they are working on a vaccine for that. They just haven't found one yet that does not kill or maim with the ones that they have given it to thus far. I can imagine when they get one that doesn't kill or totally maim it will also be mandated. Malaria five species of this parasites/sporozoites. $cience says supposedly it is too expensive to raise enough plants to treat it naturally. Dried Whole Plant Artemisia annua as an Antimalarial Therapy

 

[SSDD]

DDT-resistant mosquito strains with cross-resistance to pyrethroids

1. 
   
   
   • Chusak Prasittisuk and
   • James R. Busvine

Article first published online: 28 APR 2006

DOI: 10.1002/ps.2780080516



Abstract
Various DDT-resistant strains of mosquito, comprising 8 strains of Aedes aegypti from the Neotropics (tropical and South America) and one each of Anopheles gambiae and An. quadrimaculatus were tested for resistance to pyrethroids. Susceptibility was measured by LT50values, after exposure to impregnated papers in the cylinders used in the WHO standardised test for adult mosquitoes. DDT-resistance levels (by comparison with susceptible strains) ranged from × 2 to × 73, with simultaneous low resistance to permethrin (× 1.4 to × 3.4) except in one strain from Guyana which reached × 30. Further comparisons were made with this Guyana strain and one from Salvador with similar DDT-resistance (about × 70) but low permethrin-resistance. Tests with methoxychlor and I,I-di-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-nitropropane and with the synergist I,I-di-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,2,2-trifluoroethanol suggested that a considerable part of the DDT-resistance of both strains was due to a dehydrochlorination mechanism. Tests with the synergist piperonyl butoxide (PB) suggested that microsomal oxidase systems were also involved, especially in the Guyana strain. The cross-resistance in both strains extended to 3 other pyrethroids. Addition of the synergist PB had little effect on the Salvador strain, but substantially reduced permethrin-resistance in the Guyana strain. It is concluded that an unknown mechanism associated with DDT-resistance confers a low level cross-tolerance to pyrethroids; this can be substantially augmented by the development of a microsomal oxidase mechanism, as in the Guyana strain.

Now little Yaalhad, you are about a dumb fuck. The fact that many strains of mosqitoes have developed resistance to DDT and other pesticides has long been known.

And once again, rocks falls victim to propaganda...

Some mosquitoes became “resistant” to DDT. “There is persuasive evidence that antimalarial operations did not produce mosquito resistance to DDT. That crime, and in a very real sense it was a crime, can be laid to the intemperate and inappropriate use of DDT by farmers, espeially cotton growers. They used the insecticide at levels that would accelerate, if not actually induce, the selection of a resistant population of mosquitoes.” [Desowitz, RS. 1992. Malaria Capers, W.W. Norton & Company]

“Resistance” may be a misleading term when discussing DDT and mosquitoes. While some mosquitoes develop biochemical/physiological mechanisms of resistance to the chemical, DDT also can provoke strong avoidance behavior in some mosquitoes so they spend less time in areas where DDT has been applied — this still reduces mosquito-human contact. “This avoidance behavior, exhibited when malaria vectors avoid insecticides by not entering or by rapidly exiting sprayed houses, should raise serious questions about the overall value of current physiological and biochemical resistance tests. The continued efficacy of DDT in Africa, India, Brazil, and Mexico, where 69% of all reported cases of malaria occur and where vectors are physiologically resistant to DDT (excluding Brazil), serves as one indicator that repellency is very important in preventing indoor transmission of malaria.” [See, e.g.,J Am Mosq Control Assoc 1998 Dec;14(4):410-20; and Am J Trop Med Hyg 1994;50(6 Suppl):21-34].

In addition....

Bald eagles were reportedly threatened with extinction in 1921 — 25 years before widespread use of DDT. [Van Name, WG. 1921. Ecology 2:76]

After 15 years of heavy and widespread usage of DDT, Audubon Society ornithologists counted 25 percent more eagles per observer in 1960 than during the pre-DDT 1941 bird census. [Marvin, PH. 1964 Birds on the rise. Bull Entomol Soc Amer 10(3):184-186; Wurster, CF. 1969 Congressional Record S4599, May 5, 1969; Anon. 1942. The 42nd Annual Christmas Bird Census. Audubon Magazine 44:1-75 (Jan/Feb 1942; Cruickshank, AD (Editor). 1961. The 61st Annual Christmas Bird Census. Audubon Field Notes 15(2):84-300; White-Stevens, R.. 1972. Statistical analyses of Audubon Christmas Bird censuses. Letter to New York Times, August 15, 1972]

No significant correlation between DDE residues and shell thickness was reported in a large series of bald eagle eggs. [Postupalsky, S. 1971. (DDE residues and shell thickness). Canadian Wildlife Service manuscript, April 8, 1971]

Thickness of eggshells from Florida, Maine and Wisconsin was found to not be correlated with DDT residues.


Data from Krantz, WC. 1970. Pesticides Monitoring Journal 4(3):136-140.
State Thickness (mm) DDE residue (ppm)
Florida 0.50 About 10
Maine 0.53 About 22
Wisconsin 0.55 About 4


U.S. Forest Service studies reported an increase in nesting bald eagle productivity (51 in 1964 to 107 in 1970). [U.S. Forest Service (Milwaukee, WI). 1970. Annual Report on Bald Eagle Status]

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists fed large doses of DDT to captive bald eagles for 112 days and concluded that “DDT residues encountered by eagles in the environment would not adversely affect eagles or their eggs.” [Stickel, L. 1966. Bald eagle-pesticide relationships. Trans 31st N Amer Wildlife Conference, pp.190-200]

Wildlife authorities attributed bald eagle population reductions to a “widespread loss of suitable habitat”, but noted that “illegal shooting continues to be the leading cause of direct mortality in both adult and immature bald eagles.” [Anon.. 1978. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Endangered Species Tech Bull 3:8-9]

Every bald eagle found dead in the U.S., between 1961-1977 (266 birds) was analyzed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists who reported no adverse effects caused by DDT or its residues. [Reichel, WL. 1969. (Pesticide residues in 45 bald eagles found dead in the U.S. 1964-1965). Pesticides Monitoring J 3(3)142-144; Belisle, AA. 1972. (Pesticide residues and PCBs and mercury, in bald eagles found dead in the U.S. 1969-1970). Pesticides Monitoring J 6(3): 133-138; Cromartie, E. 1974. (Organochlorine pesticides and PCBs in 37 bald eagles found dead in the U.S. 1971-1972). Pesticides Monitoring J 9:11-14; Coon, NC. 1970. (Causes of bald eagle mortality in the US 1960-1065). Journal of Wildlife Diseases 6:72-76]
Don't give me the crap that you care anything about the animals or environment, you 'Conservatives' have too many times said the hell with both in order for a rich man to make even more money.[/QUOTE]

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists linked high intake of mercury from contaminated fish with eagle reproductive problems. [Spann, JW, RG Heath, JF Kreitzer, LN Locke. 1972. (Lethal and reproductive effects of mercury on birds) Science 175:328- 331]

The decline in the U.S. peregrine falcon population occurred long before the DDT years. [Hickey JJ. 1942. (Only 170 pairs of peregrines in eastern U.S. in 1940) Auk 59:176; Hickey JJ. 1971 Testimony at DDT hearings before EPA hearing examiner. (350 pre-DDT peregrines claimed in eastern U.S., with 28 of the females sterile); and Beebe FL. 1971. The Myth of the Vanishing Peregrine Falcon: A study in manipulation of public and official attitudes. Canadian Raptor Society Publication, 31 pages]

Peregrine falcons were deemed undesirable in the early 20th century. Dr. William Hornaday of the New York Zoological Society referred to them as birds that “deserve death, but are so rare that we need not take them into account.” [Hornaday, WT. 1913. Our Vanishing Wild Life. New York Zoological Society, p. 226]

he 1950′s and 1960′s saw continuing harassment trapping brooding birds in their nests, removing fat samples for analysis and operating time-lapse cameras beside the nests for extended periods of time), predation and habitat destruction. [Hazeltine, WE. 1972. Statement before Secretary of State's Advisory Committee on United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, March 16, 1972; Enderson, JH and DD Berger. 1968. (Chlorinated hydrocarbons in peregrines from Northern Canada). Condor 70:149-153; Enderson, JH.. 1972. (Time lapse photography in peregrine nests) Living Bird 11: 113- 128; Risebrough, RW. 1970. (Organochlorines in peregrines and merlins migrating through Wisconsin). Canadian Field-Naturalist 84:247-253]

During the 1960′s, peregrines in northern Canada were “reproducing normally,” even though they contained 30 times more DDT, DDD, and DDE than the midwestern peregrines that were allegedly extirpated by those chemicals. [Enderson, JH and DD Berger. 1968. (Chlorinated hydrocarbons in peregrines from Northern Canada) Condor 70:170-178]

There was no decline in peregrine falcon pairs in Canada and Alaska between 1950 and 1967 despite the presence of DDT and DDE. [Fyfe, RW. 1959. Peregrine Falcon Populations, pp 101-114; and Fyfe, RW. 1968. Auk 85: 383-384]

The peregrine with the very highest DDT residue (2,435 parts per million) was found feeding three healthy young. [Enderson, JH. 1968. (Pesticide residues in Alaska and Yukon Territory) Auk 85: 683]

The decline in British peregrine falcons ended by 1966, though DDT was as abundant as ever. The Federal Advisory Committee on Pesticides concluded “There is no close correlation between the declines in populations of predatory birds, particularly the peregrine falcon and the sparrow hawk, and the use of DDT.” [Wilson report. 1969. Review of Organochlorine pesticides in Britain. Report by the Advisory Committee on toxic chemicals. Department of Education and Science]

Peregrine falcon and sparrow hawk egg shells thinned in Britain prior to the use of DDT. [Redcliff, DH. 1967. Nature 215: 208-210; Redcliff, DH. 1970 J Applied Biology 7:67; and Redcliff, DH. 1967. Nature 215: 208-210]

In congressional testimony, Charles Wurster, a biologist for the Environmental Defense Fund, noted the abundance of birds during the DDT years, referring to “increasing numbers of pheasants, quail, doves, turkeys and other game species.” [Wurster, C.F. 1969 Congressional Record S4599, May 5, 1969]

The Audubon Society’s annual bird census in 1960 reported that at least 26 kinds of birds became more numerous during 1941 – 1960. [See Anon. 1942. The 42nd annual Christmas bird census." Audubon Magazine 44;1-75 (Jan/Feb 1942), and Cruicjshank, AD (editor) 1961. The 61st annual Christmas bird census. Audubon Field Notes 15(2); 84-300]

Great increases inmost kinds of hawks during the DDT years were reported by the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association (Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania). [Taylor, JW. Summaries of Hawk Mountain migrations of raptors, 1934 to 1970. In Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association Newsletters]

National forest studies from Wisconsin and Michigan reported an increase in nesting osprey productivity from 11 young in 1965 to 74 young in 1970. [U.S. Forest Service, Milwaukee. 1970. Annual report on osprey status in national forests in Wisconsin and Michigan]

A study of fish-eaters at Funk Island (on the North Atlantic coast) reported that, despite diets contaminated with DDT, gannet and murres pairs increased by 1,500 percent and 10,000 percent from 1945 to the early 1970s. [Bruemmer, F. 1971. Animals Magazine, p.555, April]

Gas chromatography detected DDT in samples of wildlife and soil collected before DDT was even produced. [Scott, ML et al. 1975. Poultry Science 54: 350-368 ("Many reports relating reproductive declines of wild birds (and body stores in those birds) to DDT and DDE were based on analytical procedures that did not distinguish between DDT and PCBs."); Sherman, RW. 1973. Artifacts and mimics of DDT and other insecticides. J New York Entomol Soc 81:152-163 (Robin collected in 1938); Coon, FB. 1966. Electron capture gas chromatograph analyses of selected samples of authentic pre-DDT origin. Presented at the Conference of American Chemical Society in New York (Gibbon collected in 1935); Frazier, BE et al. 1970. Pesticides Monitoring J 4:67-70, 1970 (Soil collected in 1911); Bowman, MC et al. 1965. J Econ Entomology 58: 896-902 (Soil collected in 1940); Hom, W. 1974. Science 184:1197-1199 (1930-vintage Santa Barbara basin sediment)]

DDT was mistaken for other organochlorines. [Glotfelty, DE.. 1970. Anal Chem 42:82-84 (Misidentifications of DDT resulted from interference by "pigment-related natural products in photosynthesic tissues."); Hylin, JW. 1969. Residue Reviews 26:127 ("Organochlorine compounds in plants can cause interference in residue analyses "); Sims, JJ. 1977. Press release, June 15, 1977 (Certain marine algae produce halogen compounds that are detected by gas chromatography and may be misidentified as DDT metabolites);George JL and DEH Frear. 1966. Pesticides in the Antarctic. J Appld Ecology 3 (suppl): 155-167 (Antarctic samples of fish and birds widely touted as containing DDT residues likely contained PCBs instead that leached from the plastic containers they were stored in for 6 months prior to analysis)]

And I could go on and on and on....

 

[Old Rocks]

This thread should suck in some liberals like mosquitoes to blood...

DDT MIGHT HAVE STOPPED ZIKA, BUT ENVIRONMENTALISTS CHOSE MOSQUITOES OVER PEOPLE
January 28, 2016
Daniel Greenfield

The Zika virus outbreak is the latest batch of blood on the dirty hands of Rachel Carson and the entire environmental movement which puts mosquitoes ahead of people. There was a time when we beat insect-born diseases through simple and easymethods that worked.

...

But environmentalists eradicated DDT instead. DDTworked in Brazil.

...

Environmentalists love control policies.

The quickest way to stop it in Brazil will be to attack the mosquitoes. The Olympics are near. Perhaps DDT will make a comeback.

...

That view comes fromHugh Pennington, a professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland who was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

The bottom line is that this isa mosquito problem, which requires eradicating them. And environmentalists really, really hate that. So you can bet Obama won't go that route.

...

We could just start eradicating mosquitoes using methods and technology that works. Or we could tell women to stop getting pregnant. You just know how much environmentalists and the Zero Population Growth crowd loves the second option.

Anyway environmentalists have already shifted to blaming the Zika virus on Global Warming, because the angry Flying Global Warming Monster is responsible for all our ills, including the Syrian Civil War, the Cologne sex attacks and absolutely any other thing you can think of.

And the Rachel Carson Environmentalist Genocide rolls on.

DDT Might Have Stopped Zika, but Environmentalists Chose Mosquitoes Over People

Yep. The West wiped out malaria and before third world countries could the West banned it. A million poor people a year now die from Malaria.

And you are a fucking idiot. They use DDT in those nations. But, with the use of DDT, the mosquitoes become resistant to it. Also, from what we learned about what DDT does to bird populations in the US, they do not want to do the same in their nations. So they use it far more carefully than we did.

 

[emilynghiem]

This thread should suck in some liberals like mosquitoes to blood...

DDT MIGHT HAVE STOPPED ZIKA, BUT ENVIRONMENTALISTS CHOSE MOSQUITOES OVER PEOPLE
January 28, 2016
Daniel Greenfield

The Zika virus outbreak is the latest batch of blood on the dirty hands of Rachel Carson and the entire environmental movement which puts mosquitoes ahead of people. There was a time when we beat insect-born diseases through simple and easymethods that worked.

...

But environmentalists eradicated DDT instead. DDTworked in Brazil.

...

Environmentalists love control policies.

The quickest way to stop it in Brazil will be to attack the mosquitoes. The Olympics are near. Perhaps DDT will make a comeback.

...

That view comes fromHugh Pennington, a professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland who was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

The bottom line is that this isa mosquito problem, which requires eradicating them. And environmentalists really, really hate that. So you can bet Obama won't go that route.

...

We could just start eradicating mosquitoes using methods and technology that works. Or we could tell women to stop getting pregnant. You just know how much environmentalists and the Zero Population Growth crowd loves the second option.

Anyway environmentalists have already shifted to blaming the Zika virus on Global Warming, because the angry Flying Global Warming Monster is responsible for all our ills, including the Syrian Civil War, the Cologne sex attacks and absolutely any other thing you can think of.

And the Rachel Carson Environmentalist Genocide rolls on.

DDT Might Have Stopped Zika, but Environmentalists Chose Mosquitoes Over People

Yep. The West wiped out malaria and before third world countries could the West banned it. A million poor people a year now die from Malaria.

And you are a fucking idiot. They use DDT in those nations. But, with the use of DDT, the mosquitoes become resistant to it. Also, from what we learned about what DDT does to bird populations in the US, they do not want to do the same in their nations. So they use it far more carefully than we did.

I understand that mosquitoes have been bred so they can't fly and get out of the water, so the population drops exponentially.

If hard-core environmentalists are worried about a breed of mosquitoes going extinct, why can't some be kept in captivity, while wiping out JUST the particular mosquito populations in affected areas that carry diseases. Then after the diseases are wiped out, reintroducing that species again to that region so the levels return back to normal.

Couldn't both be done without causing longterm risk of extinction affecting other species in the ecosystems?

 

[Crick]

DDT was not banned to save the mosquito. It was banned to save humans. DDT - in fact all the chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides (DDD, DDE, etc) did not break down once ingested. This enabled biological magnification. With each step up the food ladder, from little things like insects and plankton to big things like pelicans and mountain lions and humans, the level of DDT in the body increased till it was having serious effects. Birds could not form eggshells thick enough to survive being sat on by the mother. Without a ban on DDT, the brown pelican would likely be many years extinct on the American coastlines at least. The milk of human mothers was found to contain more DDT that was allowed in food.

This thread's OP title is crap. DDT was not banned to save the mosquito.

 

[mamooth]

DDT is an organochlorine chemical. Autism has recently been strongly linked to levels of organochlorine chemicals in the blood of women during pregnancy.

Chemicals banned decades ago linked to increased autism risk today

Those chemicals were banned in the USA in 1977, but they still linger in the environment.

So, the science says we can now call the pro-DDT people pro-more-autistic-children.

 

[mamooth]

Couldn't both be done without causing longterm risk of extinction affecting other species in the ecosystems?

Essentially no, because it's essentially impossible to wipe out a species of mosquito.

During the years when DDT was mass-sprayed on everything, the mass-spraying had little success in combating malaria. Only two island nations, Jamaica and Taiwan, managed to eliminate malaria. In non-island nations, they couldn't spray everything, so the mosquitoes came back immediately from wild places that couldn't be sprayed.

Malaria was almost eliminated from the USA before DDT was invented. That was done by public health programs. They couldn't keep infected mosquitoes away from people, but they could keep infected people away from mosquitoes. Infected people were removed to hospitals and cured. If mosquitoes couldn't bite the infected people, the cycle of infection was broken, and there was no more malaria.

That's how Zika will have to be addressed, from the public health aspect. As it is a virus, a vaccine should be possible. Local mosquito control will help, but it's just one part of the solution.