Mosquito Control Around The World
USA
The following WEST NILE VIRUS Human Infections in the United States have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming. There have been 479 infections in total.
GREECE
The Hellenic Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that 13 people died with laboratory-confirmed WEST NILE VIRUS as of Wednesday. There have been 143 people who have become ill, including 39 hospitalized and eight still in intensive care. Cases were recorded in early August in Central Macedonia, northern Greece – the first time the infection has been documented in humans in Greece, researchers reported in the Aug. 26 issue of Eurosurveillance, Europe’s journal on infectious disease epidemiology.
ROMANIA
The death toll of WEST NILE VIRUS reached four in Romania, while the infections amounted to 38, the Health Ministry said Wednesday. According to the release, four new infections have been confirmed. All four people who died from the virus were aged over 60 and had chronic illnesses. More on this website @ https://mosquitoguardpro.com
HUNGARY
Two patients who have contracted the mosquito-borne WEST NILE VIRUS (WNV) are being treated in Hungarian hospitals, a health official told MTI on Wednesday. Katalin Krisztalovics said Hungary had so far registered no deaths connected with the virus, which has appeared in the country each year since 2003, mostly in regions with migrant birds. WNV is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes that bite these birds.
RUSSIA
The number of people sickened with WEST NILE ENCEPHALITIS in the Volgograd region has increased to 365 in the period from July 16 to September 14, including 295 in Volgograd, 25 in the town of Volzhsky and 45 in municipal districts, the regional department of the Rospotrebnadzor Federal Service for Supervision of Consumers Protection and Welfare said. Five WNE patients have died, Rospotrebnadzor said. “The lethal outcomes were reported for the group over 60 years of age (80%)” it said. Rospotrebnadzor said the number of patients grows by ten to 20 people a day. As of September 1, there were just 206 WNE patients in the province. According to Rospotrebnadzor officials, the climate of the region and natural migration of birds of passage that make nests in the estuary of the Volga, create favourable conditions for the breeding of the virus. Mosquitoes are the main carriers.
HONDURAS
Of all the Departments of Honduras, only the Bay Islands, Comayagua, Copan, La Paz, and Ocotepeque have reported no deaths from DENGUE HAEMORRHAGIC FEVER (DHF). Although the onset of the disease, considered hyper-endemic, seems to have slowed, victims are still being reported. The weekend confirmed 2 more deaths, raising the death total from the disease to 74 so far this year. Of the 74 dead, 44 lived in the capital. The past week, there were 1060 new cases of the classical dengue fever type, bringing the total number of patients to 64,228. Half of the patients are registered in the Central District.
BRAZIL
YELLOW FEVER symptoms can include sudden onset of fever, chills, headache, backache, nausea, and vomiting. Currently, Brazil recommends yellow fever vaccination for travelers to the following states: All areas of Acre, Amapa, Amazonas, Distrito Federal (including the capital city of Brasilia), Goias, Maranhao, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Para, Rondonia, Roraima, and Tocantins. Other designated areas of the following states: Bahia, Parana, Piaui, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and Sao Paulo. Vaccination is also recommended for travelers visiting Iguassu Falls. Vaccination is NOT recommended for travel to the following coastal cities: Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Salvador, Recife, and Fortaleza.
MALAYSIA
Kuala Lumpur – DENGUE FEVER cases climbed by 18% to 38,330 between January and October 9th compared to the corresponding period last year, said Dirctor-General of Health Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican. Six states registered rising Dengue cases last week, namely Terengganu (35 cases), Johor (33), Sabah (11), Melaka (3), Kedah and Sarawak (2 each), he said in a statement.
INDIA
New Delhi – DENGUE FEVER, a mosquito-borne disease with no known treatment, is spreading in Asia, with cases in India at a 20-year high as the country hosts the Commonwealth Games. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that 2.5 billion people are at risk from one of the world’s fastest-emerging infections. Officials at the WHO say Asia, home to 70 percent of the at-risk population, has seen a rise in dengue mainly because of higher temperatures due to climate change, rising populations and greater international travel. A.C. Dhariwal, director of India’s National Vector-Borne Disease Control Programme, told AFP that cases in India were at a 20-year high with 50 people dead and 12,000 reported infections. The number of actual infections is likely to be far higher.
PAKISTAN
More than 250,000 cases of suspected MALARIA, including some of the fatal falciparum strain, have been reported, according to the WHO, and more than 2 million cases of malaria are expected in Pakistan in the coming months in the wake of the country’s devastating floods, aid workers have warned. Two months into the crisis, large areas remain submerged in southern Sindh province, creating stagnant pools of standing water that, combined with the heat, are powerful incubators of a disease spread by mosquitoes that breed and hatch in the pools. More than 250,000 cases of suspected malaria, including some of the fatal falciparum strain, have been reported, according to the World Health Organisation. Aid agency Plan International worries the figure will surpass 2 million. “The most vulnerable are women and children,” said its Pakistan director, Haider Yaqub.
PAKISTAN – KARACHI
Karachi – “Another 30 suspected cases of DENGUE FEVER were admitted to various hospitals during the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of patients to 83,” said Dengue Surveillance Cell Sindh (DSCS) head Dr Shakil Malik in a release on Monday. The DSCS said that the deadly virus has infected 696 people since August while at least five patients have died this year of dengue fever. The situation may worsen as the virus is spreading in interior Sindh as well.
PAKISTAN – LAHORE
Lahore: A spokesman of the Punjab Health Department has said on Monday that 45 new cases of DENGUE FEVER had been reported in Lahore during the last 24 hours, raising the total number of such cases in the city to 161, and 215 in Punjab. According to the spokesman, nine dengue patients were under treatment in Services Hospital, five in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, 22 in Mayo Hospital, 15 in Kot Khawaja Saeed Hospital, five in private hospitals, whereas 12 dengue patients were under treatment in the Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi. Meanwhile, 15 patients of dengue fever from Chakwal who were under treatment in the Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi, have been discharged after recovery. The spokesman urged people to adopt precautionary measures against dengue mosquito during mornings and evenings.
VIETNAM
Ha Noi- The health ministry has warned residents to take measures to prevent contracting DENGUE FEVER during the next two months. Deputy Head of the Preventive Medicine Department Nguyen Van Binh warned people in the country’s flood-hit central region to take extra precautions. The ministry reports that there have been more than 78,000 dengue fever so far this year and 59 deaths caused by the disease. An average of 400 dengue fever cases are reported each week in HCM City.
FRANCE
France found a second case of DENGUE FEVER transmitted locally by an Asian tiger mosquito, suggesting the disease may take hold as the insect settles on the European continent. The patient, a resident of Nice on the French Riviera, has recovered, according to the region’s health department. The first case of local infection was found Sept. 13, also in Nice, and “is an important public health event” because it’s the first time that natural transmission of the dengue virus has been reported in continental Europe since 1927-1928, the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement on its website.
HONG KONG
A case of locally-acquired DENGUE FEVER was confirmed in Hong Kong, which was the first local case in seven years, the Center for Health Protection under the city’s Department of Health said Wednesday. A spokesman with the CHP said the Department of Health was highly concerned about this case of locally-acquired dengue fever infection since the last local dengue fever outbreak in Hong Kong occurred in 2002. “We are working with the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department closely to make an all-out effort to assess if there is any spread of the infection, contain the infection and prevent the spread,” he said. A total of 61 cases of dengue fever has been reported to the Center for Health Protection in Hong Kong so far this year.
THAILAND
Thailand needs to strengthen its measures to limit the outbreak of DENGUE FEVER, the World Health Organisation says. The disease is continuing to spread across the country. Epidemiologists are on high alert for a dengue outbreak this year as there have been 70,902 cases nationwide with 87 reported deaths, a 117.23% increase over the same period last year. Dengue cases have been reported across the country. The hardest-hit provinces include Pattani, Songkhla, Krabi, Narathiwat, Phatthalung, Satun, Chanthaburi, Phitsanulok and Tak.
TAIWAN
Taipei – A total of 111 new DENGUE FEVER cases originating in Taiwan were reported last week, setting a new single week record, with most of the cases concentrated in southern Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Shih Wen-yi said at a news conference. Shih also said four different strains of the virus have emerged, increasing the threat of an outbreak of the more dangerous dengue hemorrhagic fever, which often occurs when a different strain of the virus infects a patient who previously had dengue fever. Since August, 483 cases have been reported in Taiwan, of which 300 have occurred in Kaohsiung City and 108 in Tainan City, said CDC medical officer Kuo Tsung-wen.
THE PHILLIPINES
Southeast Asia is experiencing an increase in DENGUE FEVER cases. In some countries the number of victims has nearly doubled, including the Philippines, where health officials say the number of dengue cases reported this year is up nearly 90 percent from last year. From January through mid-August about 63,000 cases were reported throughout the country. At least 465 patients died from the disease. The rise is the result of several factors, including better reporting of cases and faster detection said Eric Tayag, the head of epidemiology at the health department. Tayag said the current drought in the Phillipines is exacerbating the problem. “We had problems of water supply in wider areas in the country. So many [people] began to store water and these were not covered. So this caused the multiplication of mosquitoes,” said Tayag. Standing water is an ideal mosquito breeding ground. This year the mosquitoes in the Philippines are carrying multiple strains of dengue, said the health department’s Tayag, not just the one that typically surfaces. Still, he said the number of cases is not at epidemic levels. Officials in the Philippines expect a total of 80,000 dengue cases by year’s end. But relief is in sight, said Tayag. “On the country level, most cases will occur during the rainy months, peak in August and then begin to decrease after that.” For much of Southeast Asia, the rainy season starts in June or July and continues through September.
SENEGAL
The Ministry of Health in Senegal reported two suspected cases of YELLOW FEVER in Mbour health district in This region which is approximately 50 kilometers from Dakar. In the face of high routine and recent preventive vaccination coverage in both Senegal and the Gambia, an epidemic is not anticipated and emergency vaccination is not required at this time. Investigation around sporadic cases may identify pockets of un-immunized individuals and guide immunization and vector control strategies at the local level for those at risk.
PUERTO RICO
Health officials say a record number of people have died from DENGUE FEVER so far this year in Puerto Rico. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says in a statement that 20 people have died from the mosquito-born virus in the U.S. Caribbean territory. Center officials are investigating at least another dozen deaths possibly caused by the virus and more than 11,600 suspected cases. They also have confirmed 28 cases of the more serious hemorrhagic dengue. Several other Caribbean islands have declared a dengue epidemic, with more than 80,000 cases reported in the region.
World Health Organization News (W.H.O)
“How can I prevent mosquito bites to prevent dengue?” There is no way to tell if a mosquito is carrying the dengue virus. Therefore, people must protect themselves from all mosquito bites. Dengue mosquitoes bite during the day time throughout the day. Highest biting intensity is about 2 hours after sunrise and before sunset. Wear full sleeves clothes and long dresses to cover as much of your body as possible. Use repellents- be careful in using them in young children and old people. Use mosquito coils and electric vapor mats during the daytime also to prevent dengue. Use mosquito nets to protect children, old people and others who may rest during the day. The effectiveness of these nets can be improved by treating them with permethrin (pyrethroid insecticide). This bed-net is called Insecticide Treated Nets and are widely used in the prevention of malaria.
West Nile News Flash
West Nile virus (WNV) is a virus of the family Flaviviridae. Part of the Japanese encephalitis (JE) antigenic complex of viruses, it is found in both tropical and temperate regions. It mainly infects birds, but is known to infect humans, horses, dogs, cats, bats, chipmunks, skunks, squirrels, and domestic rabbits. The main route of human infection is through the bite of an infected mosquito. West Nile virus has been described in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, west and central Asia, Oceania (subtype Kunjin), and most recently, North America. WNV has three different effects on humans.
The first is an asymptomatic infection.
The second is a mild febrile stage (termed West Nile Fever) has an incubation period of 2 to 8 days followed by fever, headache, chills, excessive sweating, weakness, swollen lymph nodes, drowsiness, pain in the joints and symptoms like those of influenza or the flu. Occasionally there is a short-lived truncal rash and some patients experience gastrointestinal symptoms including nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, or diarrhea. All symptoms are resolved within 7 to 10 days, although fatigue can last for some weeks and swollen lymph nodes can take up to two months to resolve.
The third is a neuro invasive disease termed West Nile meningitis or encephalitis. In many infected individuals the ratio between the three states is roughly 110:30:1.
The more dangerous encephalitis is characterized by similar early symptoms but also a decreased level of consciousness, sometimes approaching near-coma. Deep tendon reflexes are hyperactive at first, later diminished.
The virus is transmitted through mosquito vectors, which bite and infect birds. The birds are amplifying hosts, developing sufficient viral levels to transmit the infection to other biting mosquitoes which go on to infect other birds and also humans. The infected mosquito species vary according to geographical area; in the US Culex pipiens (Eastern US), Culex tarsalis (Midwest and West), and Culex quinquefasciatus (Southeast) are the main sources.
