The Global Climate Impact Reporter – September 2012
By Drea Crysel
Every summer season on the North American continent certain familiar scenes come into full bloom. Family Picnics, people boating & fishing, baseball games, frisbee in the park, ice cream, watermelon, trips to a local lake or ocean beach and lots -n- lots of people scratching from the all too common incident of insect bites!
Eight weeks ago I too was bitten by a couple of ‘seemingly innocuous’ mosquitos. Although it was terribly itchy and annoying I really did not give it a second thought. After a couple of days I began to feel very tired & run down, even after getting a full 8 hours sleep & making certain to eat a healthy breakfast. At first I chocked it up to the record high July temperatures & humidity levels and proceeded to spend more time indoors with the air conditioner turned on. Shortly after, the headaches, nausea, muscle soreness & dizzy spells began. It felt as if i had a rather bad case of the flu. Only now did I begin to pay attention, (especially considering it was not flu season).
As it turned out, I was bitten by mosquitos carrying West Nile virus .. and have only begun to physically recover over the past week.
This year, due to global warming causing warmer winters, earlier springs & increasing incidents of extreme weather, the U.S. is seeing the largest outbreak of West Nile virus since its discovery in 1999, With incidents of West Nile now reported in ’48’ states as of September 10, 2012 and an estimated, whopping, 15-20 percent of the infected human population not showing up in health department WNV statistics due to not becoming sick enough to see a doctor or refusal to seek medical treatment due to financial concerns. see CDC WNV reporting map for more details -> http://1.usa.gov/Mon4F0
Albeit west nile virus is not the only vector borne disease on the rise in the U.S. The warmer winters and earlier springs are also bringing about a significant increase of flea & tick borne illness. States in the Northeast, such as Maine, have seen the incident of humans infected with Lyme disease quadruple over the last decade with a huge surge reporterd this year. In the southeast, The state of Tennessee reports an unprecedented 500% percent increase in cases of tick-borne Ehrlichia and Rickettsiosis for 2012! see NSF report for more info -> http://1.usa.gov/P7biOG And in Missouri a new vector borne illness called ‘Phlebovirus’, spread by sand flies, ticks & mosquitos, has been reported. see NCEZID for more details -> http://1.usa.gov/TIfNlj
As the planet continues to warm, extreme weather conditions become the new normal and local environments change, scientists across the globe agree it is more than likely we will not only see large increases in vector borne diseases, but will have far greater difficulty controlling the spread. In 2009, for example, eastern Arizona reported 90 cases of rocky mountain Spotted fever in an area where the disease had not been previously seen And this is unfortunately only the beginning.
What You Can Do To Help!
If you see an increase in ticks, mosquitos & fleas where you live share your observations here at The GCIR by posting it in the comments section below or emailing your reports to: ClimateReporter@gmail.com.
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