- Dat: 10-8-02
- From: Stephen C. Guptill sguptill@usgs.gov
- Source: The Washington Post [edited] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57172-2002Oct7.htm
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- A military team of malaria experts has found 2 pools
of malaria-carrying mosquitoes on a Maryland island in the Potomac River
near Loudoun County, offering the first independent confirmation that the
infected insects appear to be in the Washington area, health officials
said yesterday.
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- The researchers working on Selden Island in Montgomery
County used a different testing method than [that] employed in Loudoun,
where a contractor said this month that it also had found 2 pools of infected
mosquitoes, researchers said. Robert A. Wirtz, chief of the Entomology
Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said researchers
in Atlanta plan to test the latest results. But Wirtz said the polymerase
chain reaction [PCR] test used in Maryland, in which genetic material is
amplified to make it easier to find the malaria parasite's DNA, has long
proven reliable. "If these are true positives, this is a big surprise,"
said Wirtz. "It's unlikely, and it's surprising, but it's explainable."
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- Wirtz said it's likely that people who picked up malaria
overseas are in the area and that they had infected the mosquitoes. Some
of them might not have symptoms of the disease, he said. Also, while it
is rare to see so many malaria-carrying mosquitoes in one place in the
United States, it could happen, he added. "They've got a lot of migrant
workers in the area," Wirtz said.
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- Agricultural laborers who work daily on Selden Island,
which is privately owned, will be contacted today and could be tested for
malaria, Loudoun County Health Director David Goodfriend said. It has been
decades since mosquitoes testing positive for malaria have been found in
the United States near where humans have been infected, as 2 Loudoun teenagers
were during the summer, researchers said.
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- Carol Garvey, health officer for Montgomery County, noted
that no infected mosquitoes have been found on Maryland's mainland. She
said the increasing globalization of the Washington area -- with its many
travellers and residents from countries with widespread malaria -- probably
[accounts] for the rare occurrence of infected mosquitoes.
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- The latest findings have revived debate about whether
spraying for adult mosquitoes would help reduce risk for malaria. Garvey
said consultations among local and state officials in Maryland, and with
officials in Virginia, would result in a decision this week about whether
to spray. Goodfriend said another spraying is an option in Loudoun County,
where spraying for mosquitoes took place in one neighborhood on 9 Sep 2002.
But officials are waiting for confirmation of earlier tests showing malaria-infected
mosquitoes in Loudoun and Fairfax, and they are hoping for cooler temperatures.
Large numbers of mosquitoes die at the first hard frost.
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- Some communities, such as Prince William, have led assaults
on mosquitoes with pesticide-spraying trucks in recent days, continuing
a years-long practice. Different jurisdictions deal with the threat of
mosquitoes in different ways. Communities from New York to Woodbridge to
Florida regularly spray pesticides to reduce mosquitoes, while other areas
with mosquito-borne illnesses, including the West Nile virus, don't, saying
the possible risks of spraying could outweigh the benefits.
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- The issue of whether to spray expands beyond the scientific
to include ambiguous and sensitive questions, among them what the standard
should be for dousing communities with chemicals, even safe ones. "It's
in the realm of politics," said Andrew Spielman, a Harvard University
professor of tropical public health. Since then, contractor Clarke Environmental
Mosquito Control reported discovering 3 pools of malaria-infected mosquitoes,
one near the Lansdowne resort south of Leesburg, one 2 miles away along
a waterway called Broad Run, and one in Herndon. Federal researchers had
cast doubts on the results, saying they suggested that parts of Northern
Virginia have higher proportions of infected mosquitoes than some developing
countries with endemic malaria -- a highly unlikely circumstance. But the
infected mosquitoes Maryland officials said they discovered were trapped
close to where Clarke said it found some in Loudoun, which officials said
supported the idea that something is indeed going on in that area.
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- Montgomery sprayed for mosquitoes after West Nile first
appeared 2 years ago, but the virus spread swiftly. There is no indication
that spraying now on the Maryland mainland would reduce the very low risk
of contracting malaria, said Garvey, the county health officer. Officials
are considering spraying only on Selden Island.
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- Stephen C. Guptill Senior Research Physical Scientist
U.S. Geological Survey Reston, VA 20192 sguptill@usgs.gov
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- It is no surprise that a few mosquitoes are malaria-positive
in an area where 2 people were infected by mosquito bites. The results
need further analysis and confirmation, and more pools of mosquitoes need
to be tested to obtain a clear picture of the situation. If several pools
of malaria-positive mosquitoes are identified, it probably means that the
human source of the _P.vivax_ infection is present in the area, and surveys
for gametocyte carriers among immigrants from _P.vivax_-endemic countries
may be necessary. - Mod. EP
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- ............ep/pg/jw
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-
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- Comment
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- From Finelinesdist@aol.com
- 10-9-2
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- This article screams of a fear campaign.
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- First sentence reads: "A military team of malaria
experts"
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- Well, for me to believe any of that nonsense I want to
know what the name of this alleged team/agency is and just how they were
tipped off to find a proverbial needle in a haystack.
- What is the "Malaria in my birdbath hotline"
number?
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- The next paragraph spins off into how they test for it
even though it is not the issue. The issue is whether this so called proof
is manufactured. After 911, I stopped believing anything that is reported
in mainstream news like the Washington Post.
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- If you wanted to put pressure on the 2nd Amendment, just
emphasize all of the typical statistical shootings or send out a sniper
specialist. Or even a programmed zombie to kill students.
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- If you want everyone to get "chipped" emphasize
on ALL the child abductions you can and call it an epidemic even if statistics
are way down.
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- If a plague of malaria or smallpox begins and its deemed
a biological attack by Saddam Hussein, you know what happens next. Then
we sit around wondering how it happened. Thanks to articles like that
one they will already be prepared with a scapegoat.
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