West Nile Virus Outbreak Puts Dallas In State of Emergency 167
Penurious Penguin writes with news from the BBC that the city of Dallas "is experiencing a widespread outbreak of mosquito-borne West Nile Virus that has caused and appears likely to continue to cause widespread and severe illness and loss of life," and writes that the city "has declared a state of emergency. West Nile virus can be asymptomatic or produce multiple symptoms, but can also lead to fevers, and the potentially fatal meningitis or encephalitis. Birds are the most common carriers and mosquitoes are the vector for human infection."
Buy DEET (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Buy DEET (Score:5, Informative)
>> you can spray it on your clothes
Not synthetics, however, which tend to degrade from DEET.
A little. (Score:5, Informative)
Resources from TX Dept of Emergency Management (Score:5, Informative)
The "emergency" was declared primarily so we could gain access to 5 pesticide-spraying planes from the Texas Department of Emergency Management [dallasobserver.com].
Re:No one has posted in minutes! (Score:5, Informative)
Unlikely ;)
For most, they won't even know they are exposed. This is a lot like SARS in that respect. It only severely effects about 1% of those infected. About 20% get mild symptoms, headaches, etc.
It does adversely affect those with compromised immune systems though (the elderly, immunocompromised, etc).
30% concentration of DEET is recommended for adults. Certainly NOT 90%.
10% DEET concentration for children.
The concentrations the poster above is suggesting would be toxic.
Re:huh? (Score:4, Informative)
Actually, the reason California has its debt load is because of following a Conservative anti-tax policy. That, and their electricity deregulation which gave boatloads of money to companies like Enron all in the name of a free market.
You'll never understand nor admit that it's the right-wing policies that harmed California, nor that the fix is relatively simple.
BTW, if California is broke, then so is Texas. They both have huge debt loads.
Re:A little. (Score:2, Informative)
In reality, all a "state of emergency" means is that state money is available to combat the problem. There may also be some laws put into effect (like getting fined if you leave standing water on your property). It does not mean that things are dire or that drastic measures are being taken, which is how many people read it.
Re:No one has posted in minutes! (Score:4, Informative)
Look here:
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/consultations/deet/guidelines.html [cdc.gov]
Studies have also shown that anything above 50% provided no additional protection (but did provider longer protection). In other words, it was no more effective, but lasted longer.
http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/toolkit/DEET.pdf [cdc.gov]
Re:Spray planes in Texas (Score:5, Informative)
Or maybe they're exercising due diligence by not allowing every yahoo with a crop duster to shower pesticides on residential areas.
The only ones allowed to hire aircraft to spray for mosquitoes in the first place are local governments and state health districts, so your concern is completely out of place. Only government agencies are allowed to purchase such aerial mosquito spray services here in Texas. The problem is that the supply of qualified pilots and planes ready to service these official government contracts is being artificially and unreasonably restricted by another government agency.
Also, "crop dusters" are not "yahoos".
You may be stuck thinking in the 1950's when the industry was not very regulated, but today "aerial applicators" (they are not referred to as "crop dusters" anymore except by folks who don't know what they're talking about and are just trying to stir up negativity) are a highly regulated and professional business. The aircraft cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes well over a million each. The pilots have to go thru special training and certification programs in addition to being certified by the FAA as commercial pilots. They also have to be licensed by every state they operate in for the chemical handling and deployment regardless of whether it's sprayed by aircraft or ground vehicles, in addition to the federal FAA certification requirements on the pilot and the aircraft. They are all also required to have boatloads of special, very expensive insurance too, to cover the chemical cleanup in case of accidents.