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 easy methods that worked.
What for the US? This needs to be watched. The mosquito that carries Zika, and also dengue and chikungunya, has a wide range in the United States: throughout the South, and as far as New York City. Dengue and chikungunya are increasing in the Americas, and dengue recently became established in Florida. Avoiding these diseases requires doing things that Americans used to take for granted back when insect-borne illnesses were a common concern, which was before DDT eradicated malarial mosquitoes
But environmentalists eradicated DDT instead. DDT worked in Brazil.
The eradication of Aedes aegypti (the mosquito that transmits both dengue and Zika) in Brazil was driven by the fear of another flavivirus it transmitted, yellow fever. A DDT programme started in 1947. Brazil was declared free of the mosquito in 1958. But in 1976 it came back, probably flying in from Venezuela and the Carribean. Dengue came into the country in 1981. The aim of eradicating Aedes aegypti was dropped and replaced with a control policy in 1986. The mosquito has thrived. It likes people and loves to lay its desiccation-resistant eggs in manmade water containers.
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 from Hugh 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 is a mosquito problem, which requires eradicating them. And environmentalists really, really hate that. So you can bet Obama won't go that route.
With no vaccine, controlling mosquitoes is key
The meeting in Geneva will aim to pull together research and get experts' recommendations on the next steps. Chan said she also wants "to prioritize areas where research is most needed."
Right now, there are no vaccines to prevent Zika virus, which not only pregnant women but their fetuses can contract. Nor are there medicines to treat those who have it.
This has led officials in Colombia, Jamaica and El Salvador to advise women not get pregnant so long as the Zika threat remains.
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.