Comments on: West Nile Virus: The Stranger That Came To Stay

By: Trayce

Trayce — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 15:40:23 +0000

Fascinating, Zimmer, will add more of yours to my reading list. Too bad about the silly quibbling over mosquito breeds!

What brought me here, however, was being sick, with some kind of relapsing fever, for the past 2-3 weeks. I work really hard during the week, and have been getting ill on the weekend, flu-like illness. It was hitting me Sunday night, then Sunday morning, then Friday night. I will, of course, see my physician on Monday.

I am finding it difficult to find enough information on symptoms. Don’t some of the African fevers have a come and go symptomology? Obviously the course of illness is not the same for all. I wonder if there’s a West Nile fever “spectrum” of illness that might explain mine? Sick birds in my yard this summer, and oh, I do live in Texas.

By: Biodiversity » Biodiversity and West Nile Virus

Biodiversity » Biodiversity and West Nile Virus — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 22:14:49 +0000

[...] Zimmer, C (2012) West Nile Virus: The Stranger that Came to Stay. Discovery Magazine “The Loom” Blog. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2012/08/17/west-nile-virus-the-stranger-that-came-to-stay/ [...]

By: MarthVader

MarthVader — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 20:33:00 +0000

There’s a video floating around the interwebs where a dallas physician talks about his first-hand account of West Nile virus. He woke up paralyzed. The video also goes on to explain the safety of aerial spraying: http://www.meandmydoctor.com/2012/08/dallas-doctor-knows-first-hand-ravages.html

By: The Weekly Flypaper » Biodiversity in Focus Blog

The Weekly Flypaper » Biodiversity in Focus Blog — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 23:31:45 +0000

[...] If you want a great example of how to write about mosquito-vectored diseases, then read this chapter from Carl Zimmer’s book A Planet of Viruses about how West Nile Virus came to thrive in North America. [...]

By: Wzrd1

Wzrd1 — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 18:23:38 +0000

When I was a child, local, state and federal programs aggressively worked on mosquito control.
Fogger trucks drove down the streets at least weekly, usually twice per week. Of course, being children, we rode our bikes behind the trucks.
People who permitted standing water on their properties were fined.

Fast forward through time to today.
The mosquito abatement efforts were considered an unnecessary expense, as the diseases carried by the mosquito dropped, in many cases, disappeared.
So, we reap the benefits of decades of cessation of mosquito abatement programs.
But the ME generation is happy, they pay less taxes. Well, until one of their family members contract a preventable disease.

By: Joanne Day

Joanne Day — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 01:45:00 +0000

I work at the Texas Public Health Lab in Austin on the Arbovirus surveillance team, the most common vector here in Texas is Culex quinquefasiatus or the common house mosquito. A. aegypti hasn’t really been a problem with this outbreak. I suggest that you use insect repellent when working outside in the evening or mornings. Make sure that you do not have standing water in your yard. C. quinquefasiatus likes to breed in water that has a high organic matter content.

By: Mason Meomartini

Mason Meomartini — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 00:01:23 +0000

So it CAN be carried by 62 species of mosquitoes that live in the US, but only one is known so far to carry it? How do researchers know the virus can survive in 62 species if the first comment is right, that it's only carried by one type so far? [CZ: Actually, the CDC has detected West Nile Virus in a total of 64 species of mosquitoes in the United States now. Here's their list.]

By: Jerry Hodge

Jerry Hodge — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 21:32:10 +0000

According to the CDC, infected members of the genus Culex mosquito are mainly responsible for transmission of the West Nile Virus in the U. S.

By: Should players be worried about West Nile Virus in Texas? | Stars of Tennis

Should players be worried about West Nile Virus in Texas? | Stars of Tennis — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 18:28:48 +0000

[...] The virus was unintentionally introduced to the US in 1999; the source thought to be a bird smuggled into the country from Israel. [...]

By: Trevor Browne

Trevor Browne — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 17:19:39 +0000

Readers should be informed that only one type of mosquito carries the West Nile Virus – the same mosquito carrier of yellow fever – the aedes aegyptis recognizable by its distinct black and white striped limbs.