Discussion
manic47 said:
Please explain the scaremongering then.
27,000 AIDS related deaths in Europe/US in 2013.
2.4 million people with HIV across Europe and US
Looks a problem to me, and those figures are with massive awareness of the risks.
Population of Europe and US c 1.1 billion. 27,000 AIDS related deaths in Europe/US in 2013.
2.4 million people with HIV across Europe and US
Looks a problem to me, and those figures are with massive awareness of the risks.
So 2% have HIV, and of that 2%, 1% die, so that's 0.02% of the population.
Compare that with 2% dieing of cancer, and tell me what the problem is.
Thankyou4calling said:
Oakey said:
What was the scaremongering with AIDS?
Do I really need to have to go into this?hornetrider said:
Yep.Also doesn't consider the question of what other diseases they may carry and what effect that has in controlling populations of other organisms.
mondeoman said:
manic47 said:
Please explain the scaremongering then.
27,000 AIDS related deaths in Europe/US in 2013.
2.4 million people with HIV across Europe and US
Looks a problem to me, and those figures are with massive awareness of the risks.
Population of Europe and US c 1.1 billion. 27,000 AIDS related deaths in Europe/US in 2013.
2.4 million people with HIV across Europe and US
Looks a problem to me, and those figures are with massive awareness of the risks.
So 2% have HIV, and of that 2%, 1% die, so that's 0.02% of the population.
Compare that with 2% dieing of cancer, and tell me what the problem is.
mondeoman said:
manic47 said:
Please explain the scaremongering then.
27,000 AIDS related deaths in Europe/US in 2013.
2.4 million people with HIV across Europe and US
Looks a problem to me, and those figures are with massive awareness of the risks.
Population of Europe and US c 1.1 billion. 27,000 AIDS related deaths in Europe/US in 2013.
2.4 million people with HIV across Europe and US
Looks a problem to me, and those figures are with massive awareness of the risks.
So 2% have HIV, and of that 2%, 1% die, so that's 0.02% of the population.
Compare that with 2% dieing of cancer, and tell me what the problem is.
hornetrider said:
FredClogs said:
They say mosquitoes have killed more humans than anything else. I do wonder why we can't just take the useless little f
kers out?
Why indeed. Interesting piece here.kers out?http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35408835
http://benmuse.typepad.com/ben_muse/2007/06/how_ma...
cptsideways said:
A friend of mine, his grandfather was responsible for eradicating mossies from Mauritius by coming up with the idea of putting oil into every water ways which stopped them breeding. There is quite a bit history on the subject.
http://benmuse.typepad.com/ben_muse/2007/06/how_ma...
Having spent a few weeks in Mauritius in 2012 I can assure you that he was not fully successful in his task http://benmuse.typepad.com/ben_muse/2007/06/how_ma...
Another worrying development of this outbreak is a spike in cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS).
In Colombia, health minister Alejandro Gaviria said one neurologist in the northern coastal city of Cartagena had said he would normally see three cases of GBS in a year. Now he’s seeing three in one day.
In Colombia, health minister Alejandro Gaviria said one neurologist in the northern coastal city of Cartagena had said he would normally see three cases of GBS in a year. Now he’s seeing three in one day.
Mother Nature will always try to adapt and survive.
Zika Outbreak Epicenter In Same Area Genetically-Modified Mosquitoes Released In 2015
Zika seemingly exploded out of nowhere. Though it was first discovered in 1947, cases only sporadically occurred throughout Africa and southern Asia. In 2007, the first case was reported in the Pacific. In 2013, a smattering of small outbreaks and individual cases were officially documented in Africa and the western Pacific. They also began showing up in the Americas. In May 2015, Brazil reported its first case of Zika virus — and the situation changed dramatically.
Brazil is now considered the epicenter of the Zika outbreak, which coincides with at least 4,000 reports of babies born with microcephaly just since October.
Oxitec first unveiled its large-scale, genetically-modified mosquito farm in Brazil in July 2012, with the goal of reducing “the incidence of dengue fever,” as The Disease Daily reported. Dengue fever is spread by the same Aedes mosquitoes which spread the Zika virus — and though they “cannot fly more than 400 meters,” WHO stated, “it may inadvertently be transported by humans from one place to another.” By July 2015, shortly after the GM mosquitoes were first released into the wild in Juazeiro, Brazil, Oxitec proudly announced they had “successfully controlled the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads dengue fever, chikungunya and zika virus, by reducing the target population by more than 90%.”
Though that might sound like an astounding success — and, arguably, it was — there is an alarming possibility to consider.
The particular strain of Oxitec GM mosquitoes, OX513A, are genetically altered so the vast majority of their offspring will die before they mature — though Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher published concerns in a report in September 2010 that a known survival rate of 3-4 percent warranted further study before the release of the GM insects. Her concerns, which were echoed by several other scientists both at the time and since, appear to have been ignored — though they should not have been.
Those genetically-modified mosquitoes work to control wild, potentially disease-carrying populations in a very specific manner. Only the male modified Aedes mosquitoes are supposed to be released into the wild — as they will mate with their unaltered female counterparts. Once offspring are produced, the modified, scientific facet is supposed to ‘kick in’ and kill that larvae before it reaches breeding age — if tetracycline is not present during its development. But there is a problem.
According to an unclassified document from the Trade and Agriculture Directorate Committee for Agriculture dated February 2015, Brazil is the third largest in “global antimicrobial consumption in food animal production” — meaning, Brazil is third in the world for its use of tetracycline in its food animals. As a study by the American Society of Agronomy, et. al., explained, “It is estimated that approximately 75% of antibiotics are not absorbed by animals and are excreted in waste.” One of the antibiotics (or antimicrobials) specifically named in that report for its environmental persistence is tetracycline.
In fact, as a confidential internal Oxitec document divulged in 2012, that survival rate could be as high as 15% — even with low levels of tetracycline present. “Even small amounts of tetracycline can repress” the engineered lethality. Indeed, that 15% survival rate was described by Oxitec:
“After a lot of testing and comparing experimental design, it was found that [researchers] had used a cat food to feed the [OX513A] larvae and this cat food contained chicken. It is known that tetracycline is routinely used to prevent infections in chickens, especially in the cheap, mass produced, chicken used for animal food. The chicken is heat-treated before being used, but this does not remove all the tetracycline. This meant that a small amount of tetracycline was being added from the food to the larvae and repressing the [designed] lethal system.”
I can't help thinking whether this will make a good disaster movie??
Zika Outbreak Epicenter In Same Area Genetically-Modified Mosquitoes Released In 2015
Zika seemingly exploded out of nowhere. Though it was first discovered in 1947, cases only sporadically occurred throughout Africa and southern Asia. In 2007, the first case was reported in the Pacific. In 2013, a smattering of small outbreaks and individual cases were officially documented in Africa and the western Pacific. They also began showing up in the Americas. In May 2015, Brazil reported its first case of Zika virus — and the situation changed dramatically.
Brazil is now considered the epicenter of the Zika outbreak, which coincides with at least 4,000 reports of babies born with microcephaly just since October.
Oxitec first unveiled its large-scale, genetically-modified mosquito farm in Brazil in July 2012, with the goal of reducing “the incidence of dengue fever,” as The Disease Daily reported. Dengue fever is spread by the same Aedes mosquitoes which spread the Zika virus — and though they “cannot fly more than 400 meters,” WHO stated, “it may inadvertently be transported by humans from one place to another.” By July 2015, shortly after the GM mosquitoes were first released into the wild in Juazeiro, Brazil, Oxitec proudly announced they had “successfully controlled the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads dengue fever, chikungunya and zika virus, by reducing the target population by more than 90%.”
Though that might sound like an astounding success — and, arguably, it was — there is an alarming possibility to consider.
The particular strain of Oxitec GM mosquitoes, OX513A, are genetically altered so the vast majority of their offspring will die before they mature — though Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher published concerns in a report in September 2010 that a known survival rate of 3-4 percent warranted further study before the release of the GM insects. Her concerns, which were echoed by several other scientists both at the time and since, appear to have been ignored — though they should not have been.
Those genetically-modified mosquitoes work to control wild, potentially disease-carrying populations in a very specific manner. Only the male modified Aedes mosquitoes are supposed to be released into the wild — as they will mate with their unaltered female counterparts. Once offspring are produced, the modified, scientific facet is supposed to ‘kick in’ and kill that larvae before it reaches breeding age — if tetracycline is not present during its development. But there is a problem.
According to an unclassified document from the Trade and Agriculture Directorate Committee for Agriculture dated February 2015, Brazil is the third largest in “global antimicrobial consumption in food animal production” — meaning, Brazil is third in the world for its use of tetracycline in its food animals. As a study by the American Society of Agronomy, et. al., explained, “It is estimated that approximately 75% of antibiotics are not absorbed by animals and are excreted in waste.” One of the antibiotics (or antimicrobials) specifically named in that report for its environmental persistence is tetracycline.
In fact, as a confidential internal Oxitec document divulged in 2012, that survival rate could be as high as 15% — even with low levels of tetracycline present. “Even small amounts of tetracycline can repress” the engineered lethality. Indeed, that 15% survival rate was described by Oxitec:
“After a lot of testing and comparing experimental design, it was found that [researchers] had used a cat food to feed the [OX513A] larvae and this cat food contained chicken. It is known that tetracycline is routinely used to prevent infections in chickens, especially in the cheap, mass produced, chicken used for animal food. The chicken is heat-treated before being used, but this does not remove all the tetracycline. This meant that a small amount of tetracycline was being added from the food to the larvae and repressing the [designed] lethal system.”
I can't help thinking whether this will make a good disaster movie??
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