Zika virus: Up to four million Zika cases predicted
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-35427493
Any thoughts?
It's unlikely that the UK could host the mosquito that transmits the virus but with global warming, air transport and perhaps knock on economic effects I don't think we are completely safe from the effects.
I'm not sure we should change anything that we do as preppers but it's worth keeping an eye I think.
Even if we are safe it's a tragedy for those affected.
Zika virus: Up to four million Zika cases predicted
Re: Zika virus: Up to four million Zika cases predicted
I'm going to just try really really hard not to get pregnant. 
Re: Zika virus: Up to four million Zika cases predicted
i had the snip a long time ago, so i dont think ill get pregnant, but, if mrs digi gets pregnant, she will be all on her own, because of the very first bit of this post :p
Re: Zika virus: Up to four million Zika cases predicted
To be honest, it's a catastrophe for the families and countries concerned. I used to work for Mencap, and I met one or two children with microcephaly when I went out to the local societies. "A small head" doesn't begin to cover how awful it is ... the brainstem is more or less there, but all the brain areas that involve any kind of advanced functioning are either missing or only vestigial, at least they were in the children I met.
Re: Zika virus: Up to four million Zika cases predicted
This one is looking like it might get interesting. It's primarily caught via bites from infected mosquitoes, but there is some suggestion that it can be transmitted sexually as well. It's in a lot of holiday destinations, and whilst not all holiday makers are as irresponsible, there are always some who get drunk and have unprotected sex.
So far it's been found as far north as America and there was a case reported in Europe yesterday. If it can be transmitted sexually, then whether a country can host the mosquitoes is irrelevant. And I'm wondering if it has mutated from the original form at all; apparently it's been known about since 1947 but always considered fairly harmless. This outbreak is unprecendented.
So far it's been found as far north as America and there was a case reported in Europe yesterday. If it can be transmitted sexually, then whether a country can host the mosquitoes is irrelevant. And I'm wondering if it has mutated from the original form at all; apparently it's been known about since 1947 but always considered fairly harmless. This outbreak is unprecendented.
Re: Zika virus: Up to four million Zika cases predicted
Couple of interesting things from this article - http://www.vox.com/2016/1/20/10795562/z ... th-defects
Zika can also be transmitted through blood
An estimated 80 percent of people don’t even develop any symptoms after being infected with the virus.
And from the hyperlink in that article, on the words 'through blood', to this -http://www.paho.org/hq/index.php?option ... =0&lang=en
The no symptoms bit is worrying, and I wonder how long the virus remains in the blood and how long after infection it can be transmitted either sexually or through contact with infected blood/pregnancy.
Zika can also be transmitted through blood
An estimated 80 percent of people don’t even develop any symptoms after being infected with the virus.
And from the hyperlink in that article, on the words 'through blood', to this -http://www.paho.org/hq/index.php?option ... =0&lang=en
The no symptoms bit is worrying, and I wonder how long the virus remains in the blood and how long after infection it can be transmitted either sexually or through contact with infected blood/pregnancy.
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Briggs 2.0
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Re: Zika virus: Up to four million Zika cases predicted
Mother Nature is cruel to the extreme and as Redskies commented below, I wonder how long it will take for Her to find a more efficient method than mosquito. Truly, truly shocking and I could weep when I watch the news.
Off-Grid & Living Outdoors
Re: Zika virus: Up to four million Zika cases predicted
I've picked up a couple of other things.
With reference to how long the virus remains in the blood and contagious, a friend was saying that on the news, the advice is to use a condom for 28 days. I've done a fair bit of poking around on the CDC site, the WHO site and a few others, and there's no definitive information about this. Indeed, they're freely admitting, for once, that they don't actually know. I suspect that 28 day figure is as arbitrary as the five a day one.
The other thing is that the mosquitoes that carry zika have become immune to four of the six pesticides that are used to spray infected areas.
This one comes from the deepest darkest corner of the net. I have no idea what to think and I don't have enough biochem to make a decision. What I would say is that given the law of unintended consequences, the ever watchful Mr Murphy and the sheer talent of homo sapiens when it comes to royally screwing things up, I wouldn't discount it out of hand. That doesn't mean I believe or disbellieve; it means I'll require actual evidence before I believe it!
In recent years, a firm called Oxitech has genetically engineered mosquitoes to, essentially, kill off the wild ones - the species that carries zika, dengue, chikungunya and a couple of other nasties is Aedes aegypti and the idea was to engineer them so they could release the males to mate with the wild females and their offspring would die before they could hatch and breed. That bit can be verified by searching online. So can the bit about how trials were done in various countries, mostly the ones with the current zika epidemic. There was also talk of releasing them in Florida; I can't find anything that says whether they were or not. And the year before last, I found mention in an article about how they'd engineered other insects for release in the UK, same idea, kill pests. All verifiable.
The bit that's not verifiable is the bit where various people and groups seem to be claiming that the epidemic has been caused by the GM mosquitoes.
As I say, I've no idea how much weight can be given to the claims. I'm throwing it in as something folk can look at or not, as they please. The first paragraph I've verified myself and had a friend who knows a lot more than I do take a look as well.
With reference to how long the virus remains in the blood and contagious, a friend was saying that on the news, the advice is to use a condom for 28 days. I've done a fair bit of poking around on the CDC site, the WHO site and a few others, and there's no definitive information about this. Indeed, they're freely admitting, for once, that they don't actually know. I suspect that 28 day figure is as arbitrary as the five a day one.
The other thing is that the mosquitoes that carry zika have become immune to four of the six pesticides that are used to spray infected areas.
This one comes from the deepest darkest corner of the net. I have no idea what to think and I don't have enough biochem to make a decision. What I would say is that given the law of unintended consequences, the ever watchful Mr Murphy and the sheer talent of homo sapiens when it comes to royally screwing things up, I wouldn't discount it out of hand. That doesn't mean I believe or disbellieve; it means I'll require actual evidence before I believe it!
In recent years, a firm called Oxitech has genetically engineered mosquitoes to, essentially, kill off the wild ones - the species that carries zika, dengue, chikungunya and a couple of other nasties is Aedes aegypti and the idea was to engineer them so they could release the males to mate with the wild females and their offspring would die before they could hatch and breed. That bit can be verified by searching online. So can the bit about how trials were done in various countries, mostly the ones with the current zika epidemic. There was also talk of releasing them in Florida; I can't find anything that says whether they were or not. And the year before last, I found mention in an article about how they'd engineered other insects for release in the UK, same idea, kill pests. All verifiable.
The bit that's not verifiable is the bit where various people and groups seem to be claiming that the epidemic has been caused by the GM mosquitoes.
As I say, I've no idea how much weight can be given to the claims. I'm throwing it in as something folk can look at or not, as they please. The first paragraph I've verified myself and had a friend who knows a lot more than I do take a look as well.
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Hamradioop
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- Location: Area 1: north wessex
Re: Zika virus: Up to four million Zika cases predicted
Public Health England's (PHE) latest Health Protection Report states: " Health professionals should consider Zika virus among the differential diagnoses of patients with fever returning from the Americas.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/pregnant-brit ... 23615.html
Men in the UK are being urged to wear condoms for a month after returning from any of the 23 countries affected by the Zika virus.
Public Health England (PHE) said the risk of transmission of the virus through sex was very low but condoms should be used as a precaution.
It said: "Sexual transmission of Zika virus has been recorded in a limited number of cases, and the risk of sexual transmission of Zika virus is thought to be very low.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/zika-warning- ... html?nhp=1
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/pregnant-brit ... 23615.html
Men in the UK are being urged to wear condoms for a month after returning from any of the 23 countries affected by the Zika virus.
Public Health England (PHE) said the risk of transmission of the virus through sex was very low but condoms should be used as a precaution.
It said: "Sexual transmission of Zika virus has been recorded in a limited number of cases, and the risk of sexual transmission of Zika virus is thought to be very low.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/zika-warning- ... html?nhp=1
“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.” ― Edward R. Murrow
"Remember Politicians are like babies diapers they both need changing often for the very same reason" - Mark Twain
If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal.
"Remember Politicians are like babies diapers they both need changing often for the very same reason" - Mark Twain
If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal.
Re: Zika virus: Up to four million Zika cases predicted
Yeah, I'm not sure about that one myself. CDC & WHO seem to be freely admitting that they know next to nothing about the virus and how it could be transmitted outside of bites from infected mosquitoes.
I suspect that 28 days is the same sort of arbitrary number as five a day. They're also saying that if you contract the virus, you should use a condom for six months.
The number that isn't arbitrary is 80%. That's how many people don't have any symptoms. That number worries me, given the numbers above!
I suspect that 28 days is the same sort of arbitrary number as five a day. They're also saying that if you contract the virus, you should use a condom for six months.
The number that isn't arbitrary is 80%. That's how many people don't have any symptoms. That number worries me, given the numbers above!