The Madness Continues: Zika Panic Kills Thousands Of S.C. Bees As Vaccine Testing Begins In Puerto Rico
In terms of the Zika virus panic that continues to sweep the U.S., it’s hard to say where you might prefer be: South Carolina, Miami, or Puerto Rico. All three areas have been or are about to be ground zero for various fronts on the Zika/Aedes aegypti mosquito wars that rage across the southeast part of the U.S. and the Caribbean.
In Dorchester County in South Carolina, for example, beekeepers reported that on Sunday morning, stressed bees began attempting to leave their nests only to expire in piles of corpses at the hive entrance. The phenomenon is sadly familiar, and indicates acute pesticide poisoning.
The bees died by the tens of millions, with one single apiary losing 46 hives that housed a total of 2.5 million bees.
Testing and hand-wringing began immediately, but the culprit was pretty easy to spot: that very morning in Dorchester County, low-flying airplanes swooped over the county, spraying naled, a powerful pesticide that kills mosquitoes on contact.
With several dozen cases of Zika infections–all travel related, it should be noted–being reported breathlessly by misinformed newscasters, it was perhaps inevitable that the county and state governments would overreact. What isn’t known–at least not to any verifiable degree–is if the Zika virus is even linked to the horrific cases of microcephaly that have everyone freaking out over what is generally such a mild disease that most people never even know they are infected.
Turning to Puerto Rico–and speaking of overreacting–Inovio Pharmaceuticals has announced that it has begun a clinical study of a Zika vaccine it is developing. The company has enlisted some 160 participants to participate in the company’s placebo-controlled study.
It is estimated that some 25 percent pf people in Puerto Rico will be infected with Zika by the end of the year, so Inovio sees the island as a perfect place to test its rush-job vaccine.
“The rapid progression of the Zika outbreak in Puerto Rico provides an immediate and unique opportunity to assess a preventive vaccine in a real world setting,” said Inovio CEO Dr. J. Joseph Kim.
Well, how lucky for you.
Meanwhile in Miami, patient zero in the map of the Zika panic epidemic, Miami Beach continues to be under a travel warning for pregnant women from the CDC along with the neighborhood north of downtown Miami where the Zika virus first appeared. Officials believe the transmission here is local, that mosquitoes are carrying the virus and passing it along through their bites.
Thus far Zika has been confirmed to have infected 36 people in the Miami area.
Thirty-six people. No word on how many of those were pregnant women, and/ or of those, how many have given birth to microcephalic babies.
That’s 36 people out of a metro area with over 6 million inhabitants. Thirty-six people infected with a disease that many of them might have blown off as a cold or severe allergies were it not for the current panic.
Yet because of these 36 people massive chemical spraying programs, travel bans and vaccine testing programs have been enacted.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Stop the craziness! Stop the “Zika mosquito” spraying. Easily tell your state and national representatives here: http://tinyurl.com/NoSprayConsent
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http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2016/08/29/867573/0/en/Inovio-Launches-Zika-Vaccine-Trial-in-Midst-of-Puerto-Rico-Epidemic-to-Explore-Early-Signals-of-Vaccine-Efficacy.html
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/zika-virus-outbreak/zika-infects-5-miami-beach-governor-rick-scott-says-n634491