Zika Virus, Of Course We Need Money Designated For That Hurry The Hell Up

[CarolKing]

It seems like the United States have dragged their feet regarding the Zika Virus. Hurry the hell up, what's taking so long to start studying up on this disease?

If I was a pregnant woman living in the southern states that might be affected I would be a nervous wreck. What other things that we don't know about this illness? At first they didn't think that it would effect the states - it seems to be spreading a at record levels. Why did it take until yesterday to get funding for this? It's these types of issues that makes my head hurt. The system is definitely broken.

It looks like quite a few Republicans voted against this WTF?

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted on Tuesday to advance $1.1 billion in emergency financing to combat the mosquito-borne Zika virus — less than the $1.9 billion requested by the White House, and setting up a confrontation with House Republicans who have put forward a plan with just $622 million reallocated from other programs.

The action in the Senate was a sign that even in a bitterly contentious election year, compromise is still possible, at least in that chamber. A proposal to grant the full White House request failed, as did a proposal that would have appropriated the money, but with offsetting spending cuts.

The vote on the compromise plan was 68 to 29, with 22 Republicans joining Democrats in favor and no Democrats opposed.

In May 2015, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) issued an alert regarding the first confirmed Zika virus infection in Brazil. On February 1, 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Zika virus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Local transmission has been reported in many other countries and territories. Zika virus will likely continue to spread to new areas.

Edit
I meant it seems to be spreading at record levels in other parts of the world. What's odd too is that men need to be careful if they have sex with their wives and they are pregnant.

That's true there are no known cases of mosquitos in the U.S with the virus. Let's hope that we don't get any.

It's a devastating disease that these babies get. We had a 10 year old child that was severely disabled with Microcephaly that went to my son's school years ago. She had the small head, she couldn't walk, couldn't talk and had a feeding tube. She got pneumonia and passed away.

 

[Joel W.]

At first they didn't think that it would effect the states - it seems to be spreading a at record levels.

As far as I know, the only people in the states with zika, got it from traveling to zika areas and brough it back?

The CDC.
US States

• No local mosquito-borne Zika virus disease cases have been reported in US states, but there have been travel-associated cases.

 

[nosmoking]

As far as I know, the only people in the states with zika, got it from traveling to zika areas and brough it back?

The CDC.
US States

• No local mosquito-borne Zika virus disease cases have been reported in US states, but there have been travel-associated cases.

That's what I thought. Elliot on Elliot in the Morning was talking about it today on the radio. It sounds like this would be a bad time to go down to Central America. Elliot talked about how in the states the only way to get the disease is to transfer it sexually basically. Saliva is a possible way I believe, but it takes a shit ton supposedly. Unless the Zika carrying mosquitos come this way I don't see why there is such a big concern for spread of this virus within the US. I saw @cybrguy talking about this earlier, perhaps he can shed more light on the subject and right my wrongs if I have said anything that is incorrect.

 

[CarolKing]

I think folks that are having babies would be worried or folks planning to in the future - those living in southern states. Why wouldn't a mosquitos from Mexico or South America cross over the boarder? What about Texas or California?

Some women that are going to be in the Olympics are worried. Pregnant woman are told not to visit the countries affected.

Edit
This means most Americans have nothing to worry about when it comes to local Zika virus transmission. But because more than 300 people have brought Zika virus back from a trip, and some of them may live in areas where the Aedes Aegypti breed and are projected to thrive this year, there is a risk that Zika virus may become endemic in the U.S.

 

[Joel W.]

My wife is due in 4 days, it's on our minds for sure.

I don't think southern( warm) mosquitos can live in the northern (less warm) areas, yet.

 

[nosmoking]

I think folks that are having babies would be worried or folks planning to in the future - those living in southern states. Why wouldn't a mosquitos from Mexico or South America cross over the boarder?

Some women that are going to be in the Olympics are worried. Pregnant woman are told not to visit the countries affected.

I just had a baby in February. I live near DC. Plenty of people going back and forth from Central America. My wife is a public heath nurse and is pretty familiar with these types of concerns. She was not worried about ZIKA affecting our baby. She is also not having sex with Mexicans or other central americans.

Elliot mentioned how the Olympics will be providing special condoms to protect against ZIKA virus. Women that are going to be in the Olympics are worried because Olympics are basically a big orgy. The athletes go sex crazy during the whole event. I don't think that has anything to do with common spread concerns for this virus.

I do agree, pregnant women and women planning to be pregnant or men planning to get a woman pregnant should not travel to areas with the ZIKA virus as I hear it takes a couple years to run its course (for concern of spreading to your children only, duration of the symptoms is only 10-15 days) if you do get it.

 

[Delta3DStudios]

Hopefully the Senate passes this bill to get the money we need to research the virus - http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/17/politics/zika-virus-congress-bill/

Having just moved to Florida I've been keeping a close eye on mosquitoes in general for fear of other crazy stuff like Dengue fever (aka "break-bone" fever - second time you get it you can die!)

• The Zika virus is transmitted only via Tiger mosquitoes - these bastards are larger, and feed during the day. And I believe they can bite through clothing.
• IBM's Watson AI has very recently helped scientists develop a "Macromolecule" which maybe the ticket to killing 'all' viral infections including Zika, Ebola, Dengue, and Influenza - http://www.dddmag.com/news/2016/05/ibm-macromolecule-kills-ebola-herpes-dengue-influenza-tests
• Screw all that, kill every damn bloodsucker you can! I invested in a Dynatrap Bugtrap, and laced the trap with Octenol3 and Lurex3 mosquito bait (attractant). One month in and I can tell a noticeable decline in mosquitoes on my entire property. If I keep the machine running for the next few weeks it will completely control the bug population around my home and property.

Elliot mentioned how the Olympics will be providing special condoms to protect against ZIKA virus.

Just to be clear, the condoms mentioned "claim" to protect against Zika virus, but they have no certifications or proof that it actually does

 

[cybrguy]

I saw @cybrguy talking about this earlier, perhaps he can shed more light on the subject and right my wrongs if I have said anything that is incorrect.

No, I am incorrect. I thought Zika was already in the southern states but I see that it is not yet infecting by bites and only spread through contact so far. I suspect it is only a matter of time and the money MUST be spent to interdict it, but there may well be time to do so before direct infections are taking place in large numbers. I sure would not be encouraging young women to choose right now to go to Disneyland, however.

Lets get on this and do what needs to be done BEFORE thousands of lives are damaged or destroyed here in the US. Not only interdiction, but a vaccine could save a lot of lives.

 

[Skyscraper]

I'm not a doctor, nurse, or microbiologist and thus don't know anything about pathology or the spread of viruses.
I recently read in a local paper that Zika virus could spread quickly in the U.S. if things happen like this:
Somebody returns to the U.S. from South America and is then bitten by a local mosquito. This mosquito would pick up the virus from the traveler and then it would be spread among domestic mosquitoes.
Like I said, I'm not a scientist or doctor and don't know how that shit spreads. I also just skimmed the article and my recall might be off.

Also, LMAO @nosmoking . Is your wife having sex with any other ethnicities that you know about?

I didn't know the Olympics was a gangbang event until they announced that. Must be embarrassing for the athletes now that everyone knows what their "recovery" time really is all about.

 

[Delta3DStudios]

This mosquito would pick up the virus from the traveler and then it would be spread among domestic mosquitoes.

More so they don't "spread" it to other domestic population. Instead the infected mosquito instead breads a whole new population of infected mosquitos. (Only females feed on humans, males do not bite). A single mosquito can lay 300 eggs in a teaspoon of water, so the population of infected bastards can rapidly increase with little time, infecting more of the population, and in turn contaminating other females who breed and lay more infected larva.

No what if I told you humans have developed a genetically modified male mosquito. Who, when mated with a female, renders her sterile. Imagine letting a swarm of male mosquitoes into the wild, and mating with millions of females, all of whom become sterile. You could effectively destroy an entire population within one generation.

We've already developed these genetically modified male mosquitoes, and they've raised enough brave soldiers to completely eradicate the population from an entire county. But they can't do it due to "ethical" issues and the EPA concerns over releasing a genetically modified mosquito into the wild.

http://www.oxitec.com/oxitec-video/using-genes-to-control-insects-the-oxitec-solution/

 

[cybrguy]

CDC Reports 279 Pregnant Women With Zika in U.S.
by Maggie Fox

More than 270 pregnant women in the U.S. are infected with the Zika virus and are at risk of their babies being born with birth defects, federal health officials announced Friday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated the way it reports Zika-affected pregnancies. The goal: to get a better grip on the true risk of a woman having a baby with a birth defect after a Zika infection.

The CDC said the new numbers show 279 women tested positive for the virus. This includes 157 women in the 50 states and Washington, D.C., plus 122 in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and other U.S. territories.


Nancy Trinidad listens to a doctor explain how to prevent Zika, Dengue and Chikungunya viruses at a hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico, February 3, 2016. ALVIN BAEZ / Reuters
So far, fewer than a dozen have had an "adverse event," such as a miscarriage or evidence that the fetus has a birth defect, CDC officials said.

"These new numbers reflect a broader group of pregnant women — pregnant women who have any laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection, and whether or not they recalled symptoms — compared with numbers previously reported," the CDC said in a statement.

The numbers include women who have already given birth, those who have miscarried and those who may have had abortions because of birth defects.

"These new numbers reflect a broader group of pregnant women."
The CDC has been recommending for months that any woman who's pregnant who thinks she could have been exposed to the virus get tested. This includes women who have traveled to Zika-affected areas, and women whose sexual partners have.

The virus is transmitted mostly by mosquitoes, but it can be sexually transmitted, also.

There's now no doubt Zika causes severe and devastating birth defects.

What has not been clear is whether the fetus of a woman who is infected but never had any symptoms is likely to have a birth defect. So CDC had only reported some of the cases of pregnant women with Zika.

Related: Brazilian Researchers Find Evidence Zika Got Worse

But some studies have suggested that a fetus can be affected even if the mother never knew she had Zika. The virus often doesn't cause symptoms. The CDC is now counting all women who have tested positive, and is reporting those numbers publicly.

Dr. Margaret Honein, who heads CDC's birth defects branch, said new numbers will be reported every Thursday. The count will include women whose test results are a little confusing. Dengue virus is a close relative of Zika and tests often confuse the two viruses.

"It is critical for pregnant women to have information on whether or not they are likely to be infected."
"Our goal is to track all Zika-affected pregnancies," Honein told reporters during a telephone briefing.

The CDC is encouraging all obstetricians and gynecologists to ask their patients about possible Zika infection and to report it to their state health departments so that CDC can get an accurate picture of just how many pregnant women are affected.

"It is critical for pregnant women to have information on whether or not they are likely to be infected," Honein said.

Related: We're Not Ready for Zika, U.S. Experts Say

Having a complete count of Zika-affected pregnancies will give CDC a critical piece of data so researchers there can calculate the risk from Zika. Right now, no one can say what the odds are that a woman infected with Zika will have a baby with birth defects. This is very difficult to calculate, because Zika doesn't cause symptoms in all people it infects, or even in most people it infects.

"This information will help healthcare providers as they counsel pregnant women affected by Zika and is essential for planning at the federal, state, and local levels for clinical, public health, and other services needed to support pregnant women and families affected by Zika," the CDC said in a statement.

"Mosquitoes don't go through customs."
The federal government is embroiled in a fight with Congress over paying for the increased surveillance and testing, and in preparing for Zika's arrival in the U.S. More than 500 travelers have carried the virus with them from areas where it's circulating. And once mosquito season really heats up, local U.S. outbreaks are likely, health officials say.

The House and Senate have not agreed on funding, and majorities in neither house want to provide the full $1.9 billion President Barack Obama has asked for.

Congress needs to "get moving," Obama said Friday as he was updated by senior health officials on the Zika epidemic.

"This is not something where we can build a wall to prevent. Mosquitoes don't go through customs," Obama said. "Congress needs to get me a bill."

 

[cybrguy]

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan leaves after delivering a speech during the World Health Assembly, with some 3,000 delegates from its 194 member states on May 23, 2016 in Geneva.

The Zika virus is basically our fault, WHO chief says
05/23/16 02:39 PM

By Maggie Fox

The Zika epidemic and the birth defects it’s causing are both the fault of governments that abandoned programs to control mosquitoes and to provide even the most basic family planning assistance to young women, the head of the World Health Organization said Monday.

“Let me give you a stern warning. What we are seeing now looks more and more like a dramatic resurgence of the threat from emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. The world is not prepared to cope,” WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan told a meeting of the World Health Assembly on Monday.

Brazilian experts have been pointing out that the country once successfully eliminated the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that carry the Zika, dengue,chikungunya and yellow fever viruses. Then the government simply stopped paying for eradication and prevention, and the mosquitoes came back.


Olympians take precautions amid Zika outbreak
“Above all, the spread of Zika, the resurgence of dengue, and the emerging threat from chikungunya are the price being paid for a massive policy failure that dropped the ball on mosquito control in the 1970s,” Chan said.

What’s more, the deadly Ebola epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa caught the world sleeping, and a yellow fever crisis brewing in West Africa shows an equal lack of even the most basic preparation, Chan said.

Chan’s warning echoes what the Obama administration and U.S. health officials have been saying. They say public health is not just being underfunded, but cut back at a time when it should be built up to help protect people against new threats like Zika.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday said it was watching or had been watching 279 pregnant women infected with Zika. They risk having babies with birth defects because of the infection.

And they say more Zika cases are almost certain to come as summer heats up and mosquito season gets under way. The administration is in a desperate fight with Republicans in Congress over funding for Zika preparations.

RELATED: Obama to Congress: Give me more money to fight Zika

“It is not a question of whether babies will be born in the United States with Zika-related microcephaly — it is a question of when and how many,” Ron Klain, the former U.S. Ebola czar, wrote in a commentary in the Washington Post over the weekend.

“For years to come, these children will be a visible, human reminder of the cost of absurd wrangling in Washington, of preventable suffering, of a failure of our political system to respond to the threat that infectious diseases pose.”

Chan said WHO has been trying to help the world prepare for new outbreaks of disease with its International Health Regulations, which require all countries to intensify their internal monitoring for diseases and then report what they find. But countries have not paid for or implemented them properly, she said.

Chan has also admitted to WHO’s failure in the Ebola epidemic. Several reports say both the WHO and the U.S. have failed to prepare properly for outbreaks of new disease, and have failed to act quickly enough when disease does break out.

“For Ebola, it was the absence of even the most basic infrastructures and capacities for surveillance, diagnosis, infection control, and clinical care, unaided by any vaccines or specific treatments,” Chan said.

Experts have said Ebola spread in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in no small part because the countries had almost no health infrastructure. “For Zika, we are again taken by surprise, with no vaccines and no reliable and widely available diagnostic tests,” Chan said.

“The possibility that a mosquito bite during pregnancy could be linked to severe brain abnormalities in newborns alarmed the public and astonished scientists,” she added.

Yet there is little on offer to help women. “To protect women of childbearing age, all we can offer is advice. Avoid mosquito bites. Delay pregnancy. Do not travel to areas with ongoing transmission,” Chan said. “Zika reveals an extreme consequence of the failure to provide universal access to sexual and family planning services. Latin America and the Caribbean have the highest proportion of unintended pregnancies anywhere in the world.”

“The lesson from yellow fever is especially brutal. The world failed to use an excellent preventive tool to its full strategic advantage,” Chan said. That would be a cheap and highly effective yellow fever vaccine. WHO and nonprofit groups are now encouraging governments in a mass yellow fever vaccination campaign.

Chan says governments need to give full political support — and money — to the International health regulations program. “Anything short of full political and financial support for the program will handicap the WHO response, right now and into the future,” she said.

 

[CarolKing]

This is part of an article from May 12, 2016

Poverty explains some of Zika's success in Latin America as well. Window and door screens are uncommon in many locales, and houses often have stagnant tubs or pools of water in dark places that provide breeding grounds for the homebound A.aegypti, which Scott calls “the cockroach” of mosquitoes. “They don’t fly very far from where they emerge,” he says. “It’s mostly people moving the virus around.” Add to this mix Latin culture: “A lot of places where Zika is common the people are incredibly social, and they go all over the city to see family and friends,” he says, while in the United States, "people often come home and go inside and there’s air conditioning and they watch TV.”

As of 11 May, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had confirmed 503 “travel-associated” cases of Zika in the United States, 10 of which involved sexual transmission. No evidence exists that a mosquito has yet bit any of these people and then spread the infection to another person in the country.

The article says that the media stirs up anxiety in the U.S population. That they will see the Zika Virus in the most southern states like FL, TX, LA, AL, MS

 

[cybrguy]

The article says that the media stirs up anxiety in the U.S population. That they will see the Zika Virus in the most southern states like FL, TX, LA, AL, MS

Sadly that appears to be a GOOD thing, cause other wise Republicans will keep the money from being spent. There will be thousands of affected people if we don't get on the interdiction. This is very much like Flint. Republican government trying to stop the spending of money that would save lives. Tho in this case, its just as likely to be THEIR lives.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

If "Poverty explains some of Zika's success in Latin America", it is purely STUPIDITY driving it here...

 

[CarolKing]

150 experts say Olympics must be moved or postponed because of Zika



By Lena H. Sun May 27 at 3:48 PM
Zika virus.

Brazil, which is hosting the Olympics and the Paralympics, is at the epicenter of the rapidly evolving mosquito-borne epidemic.

The letter is signed by 150 individuals from more than a dozen countries, including Brazil, Japan, Israel, Russia, Sweden, South Africa and the United States. It calls on the WHO to convene an independent group to advise it and the International Olympic Committee, and for authorities to reconsider the decision to hold the Games in Rio.


"We are doing it to ask for an open, transparent discussion of the risks of holding the Olympics as planned in Brazil," said Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at New York University and one of the letter's four authors, in an email explaining the reasoning behind the letter.

The group of scientists is not seeking "general assurance" from the WHO, Caplan said. Instead, they want "a frank discussion among independent experts," he said.

"If Rio is going to happen, the world deserves a full discussion of why and at what potential risks and liabilities," Caplan said.

A statue stands guard atop a tomb stone at the Villa Palmeras cemetery in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Feb. 22. Many of the graves feature flower urns that hold rainwater, providing the perfect breeding ground for the mosquito that can carry dengue, chikungunya and Zika viruses. (Allison Shelley for The Washington Post)
The other authors are Lee Igel, an associate professor at New York Univesity; Amir Attaran, a biologist and law professor at the University of Ottawa; and Christopher Gaffney, a senior research fellow at the University of Zurich who studies the impact of major sporting events on urban populations.

Each author has published articles in recent weeks and months calling for the games to be postponed because of Zika.

The Olympics are only 70 days away.

 

[CarolKing]

Francisco Rodriguez revealed to ESPN.com that he had contracted the Zika virus while he was spending the offseason at his home in Venezuela. It started out just like a normal cold, but he told ESPN that it quickly escalated to much more.

"It wasn't a cold, trust me," he said. "It wasn't a cold. A cold, you have a sneeze, have a headache, take a couple Tylenol and you're done. You don't have a cold for two weeks, you don't have a bodyache for two weeks, you don't have headaches, throwing up, weaknesses for two weeks."

Rodriguez, who was tested to make sure he had Zika, said that his recovery took months, overlapping with his pre-season preparations at the Tigers' spring training.

Zika has become a major concern of the 2016 Olympic Games, and a number of well known athletes have commented publicly about their Zika worries. Rodriguez knows how serious Zika is — when it is contracted by pregnant women, their children can be born with devastating birth defects — and he understands where they're coming from. From ESPN.com:

"I wouldn't blame them," Rodriguez told ESPN.com of any athletes having second thoughts about competing. "If they have plans to have kids in the future, you've got to think about it. You have to be aware of that as well. You have to do some homework, some research about it."

Knowledge is power, so K-Rod's recommendation to read up on Zika is excellent advice not just for athletes, but also for the many tourists who will be traveling Rio de Janeiro to see the Olympics in August.

 

[CarolKing]

Zika virus found in mosquitos in Florida. It was bound to happen.

Four cases of Zika infection in Miami are highly likely to have been caused by infected mosquitoes, the state Department of Health said Friday — the first documented instance of local transmission in the continental United States.

Officials in Florida believe that the area of active transmission is limited to a one-square-mile area just north of downtown Miami. No mosquitoes tested have been found carrying the Zika virus, and the department is going door to door in the neighborhood collecting urine samples to test residents.

Miami-Dade County is one of the busiest ports of entry into the United States from countries where the Zika virus is circulating. Health experts have long described it as one of the areas most at risk for an outbreak of the disease.

Gov. Rick Scott said in a statement that the four cases involve three men and one woman. He did not indicate whether the woman was pregnant.

“While no mosquitoes have tested positive for the Zika virus,” Mr. Scott said, the Health Department “is aggressively testing people in this area to ensure there are no other cases. If you live in this area and want to be tested, I urge you to contact the county health department.”

 

[wrigleyvillain]

I am all for "doing something" about Zika but I sure don't want to see increased blanket application of noxious insecticides as an attempt at a solution. Like they do here for West Nile Virus. It kills lots more than just mosquitos. Oh and its "safe for humans" but better keep your pets inside!

Mmm-hmm.

 

[cybrguy]

http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/29/health/florida-health-officials-confirm-local-zika-transmission/

And so it begins...

 

[CarolKing]

I wonder how safe the bug spray they are mass spraying in Florida? Now there are 15 cases of Zika. This type of mosquito is really hearty. They aren't sure if the insecticide will work.

The insecticide could be worse than the Zika virus.

 

[CarolKing]

CDC Adds South Beach Area to Travel Advisory After Zika Transmissions - Morning Consult
https://morningconsult.com › alert › cdc-...
4 hours ago - Campaigns · Congress · Health · Energy · Finance · Tech ... Mary Ellen McIntire | August 19, 2016... to the travel advisory on Friday,

 

[nosmoking]

I took my family down to FL last week and we made it back...Zika free. I got bit plenty tho and I didn't sleep with any Mexicans...neither did the wife. All jokes aside, we didn't have any concerns and I just follow her lead because she was a public health registered nurse so she kinda gets a heads up from the CDC before the rest of us do.

Our pastor's family, however, is scheduled to go down to Disney/Orlando for vacation this winter and his wifey is pregnant with #3. The doctor informed them during their last follow-up that they should cancel their trip just to be safe. Shits real, and I wouldn't get my unborn child within 100 miles of Florida right now let alone Miami-Dade county. I feel for all the people who live down there and are currently building families.

 

[CarolKing]

That is a devasting disease for the babies that are born with microcephaly. It's basically a death sentence.

 

[ichibaneye]

Lol... It's another slow kill propaganda scenario. It's really just malaria. Go read the facts, the white papers. Read the vaccine studies. The truth! The killer is in the syringe and being sprayed by air. Look further than a biased compromised news source. It's not that hard. Warning.... you current reality may be shatter. Cheers.

 

[RUDE BOY]

It's really just malaria

Not true. Zica is a virus and Malaria is caused by parasitic protozoa, not even close to the same thing.