This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.

Possible Epidemic? The Chikungunya Virus Is Starting To Spread In America

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Michael Snyder of The American Dream blog,

Cases of the chikungunya virus are appearing in the United States at a level that is far higher than anything health officials have seen in recent years, and now there are two confirmed cases of people that have not even traveled out of the country getting the virus.  That means that the chikungunya virus is starting to spread in America, and once it starts spreading it is really hard to stop.  Instead of spreading human to human, this virus actually spreads “person-to-mosquito-to-person”.  If you live in an area of the country where there are a lot of mosquitos, you should pay close attention to this article.  You do not want to get the chikungunya virus.  According to Slate, the name of this virus “comes from a Makonde word meaning ‘that which bends up,’ referring to the contortions sufferers put themselves through due to intense joint pain.”  That does not sound fun at all.

Fortunately, the U.S. has not really been affected by this disease in recent years, but an epidemic has already been declared in Puerto Rico, and some experts are now saying that it is only a matter of time before we see one in the United States.

From 2006 to 2013, the largest number of cases of the chikungunya virus in the U.S. in a single year was just 65.

But by July 15th of this year there were already 357 reported cases, and health officials are bracing for the worst.

Of course of biggest concern is what just happened in Florida.  For the first time, health officials have isolated cases of the chikungunya virus that they know were transmitted locally

U.S. health officials on Thursday confirmed two locally acquired cases of chikungunya in Florida. In Puerto Rico, the government has declared an epidemic of the mosquito-borne virus, with reports of more than 200 diagnosed cases since June 25 in San Juan and surrounding areas.

 

On Thursday, the CDC confirmed a 50-year-old male in Palm Beach, Fla. was diagnosed with the virus, and had not recently traveled outside the country. Florida state health officials are also reporting a 41-year-old woman in Miami Dade Country has been diagnosed with locally transmitted chikungunya. The CDC has not yet provided confirmation on the second case. Local transmission occurs when the insect bites a person with the infection and then transmits the virus by biting others.

So if you live in south Florida, you should really be trying to avoid mosquitos right about now.

But Florida is not the only state that is on high alert at this point.

Over in Texas, there have been five confirmed cases of the chikungunya virus so far.  The following is an excerpt about one that was just discovered in Montgomery County

The Montgomery County Public Health District is confirming their first case of the Chikungunya virus.

 

“The individual is a male teenager of Montgomery County who has recently traveled outside of the United States,” said Jennifer Nichols-Contella, Public Information Officer for the Montgomery County Public Health District.

And health officials in Kentucky were quite alarmed when they recently found a confirmed case in their state

“We have been testing our first potential cases of Chikungunya virus in Kentucky residents who recently traveled to areas where the disease is present, and have received confirmation of one positive result so far,” said Dr. Kraig Humbaugh, state epidemiologist and DPH deputy commissioner.

Overall, there are now 30 states that have confirmed cases.  In every case but the two in Florida mentioned above, it involved someone that had traveled internationally and came back…

The Center for Disease Control and state health departments are monitoring cases of Chikungunya, a virus that causes high fever, joint and muscle pain and headaches.

 

The virus has been reported in 153 cases linked to international travel, said Kristen Norlund, CDC spokeswoman, “meaning someone went to a place where the virus was circulating, got infected and then came back.”

 

Louisiana is one of 30 states with confirmed cases in residents who traveled internationally.

With so many cases already, it is going to be really difficult to keep a lid on this outbreak.  All it is going to take is a few well-timed mosquito bites and we could be off to the races.

Fortunately, the chikungunya virus is usually not fatal.  But if you do get it, you will probably remember the experience for the rest of your life

With illness onset, the person develops high fever, chills, and joint pain, followed in some by a rash on the trunk, limbs and face lasting 3-4 days. Muscle and joint pain last about one week. Joint pain is often severe and in some people lasts longer, up to several months.

And just because it is usually not fatal does not mean that there would not be a lot of deaths during a full-blown epidemic.  The following analysis is from an article about the virus by Jeff Danner

The current epidemic in the Dominican Republic may provide some insight.  Since chikungunya struck the Dominican Republic in early April, there have been almost 200,000 cases, an incidence rate of 20 per thousand for this nation of 10 million people.  If the Southeast, with a population approximately 80 million, had the same incidence rate as the Dominican Republic, we would expect 1.5 million cases in the first 100 days of an epidemic.  However, due to widespread availability of insect repellent here and our stay-inside-the-air-conditioned-space lifestyles, our incidence rate is likely to be lower.  For the sake of argument, let’s assume our incidence rate will be 1/3 that of the Dominican Republic.  This would translate to a half a million cases in the first hundred days, and we would then project approximately 10 million cases in the first year.  With chikungunya’s fatality rate of 0.4%, an epidemic of this scale would kill 40,000, with fatalities being disproportionately among the very old and very young.

And the chikungunya virus is not the only virus carried by mosquitos that health officials are alarmed about this summer.

In Massachusetts, officials have confirmed a case of eastern equine encephalitis, which is fatal about a third of the time

The Massachusetts Department of Health just confirmed that a July 15th laboratory test in Plymouth County has tested positive for EEE, a dangerous virus that can cause inflammation of the brain and in one third of cases, death.

 

Even though the only reported case of EEE in Massachusetts was more than 80 miles to our east, our chances in western Massachusetts of getting it just went up. But it probably wouldn’t be the mosquitoes bringing it here.

 

Birds are typically the long range carrier of triple E, taking the disease over many miles. Mosquitoes then bite the birds and become the local source for infection when they bite a human.

For decades, Americans really haven’t had to be concerned about the deadly diseases that are carried by mosquitos that cause so much problems in much of the rest of the world.

But now things are changing.

We are seeing very unusual disease outbreaks all over the planet, and the next great pandemic could be just around the corner.

Over in Africa, one of the worst outbreaks of the ebola virus ever recorded has already killed more than 600 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

If that virus ends up traveling over to the United States, it will make the chikungunya virus look like a Sunday picnic.

It has been a really long time since the U.S. has had to deal with a full-blown health crisis.

Hopefully the chikungunya virus will not turn into one.

But as the globe continues to become a smaller and more interconnected place, experts warn that it is only a matter of time before the next great pandemic hits us.

 

- advertisements -

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:04 | 4986101 kchrisc
kchrisc's picture

Blamed on "global warming" in 3..2..

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:10 | 4986112 Racer
Racer's picture

New propaganda terminology:

Climate change... so any weather can be a culprit

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:18 | 4986152 Dewey Cheatum Howe
Dewey Cheatum Howe's picture

You are climate denier now if you don't believe in climate change/global warming, etc. Oh yeah and a racist also.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:24 | 4986167 Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill's picture

Not a misogynist, rapist ,homphobe,gun loving,bible thumping, racist, global warming denier.

Must be Monday.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:34 | 4986200 Dewey Cheatum Howe
Dewey Cheatum Howe's picture

Naw just a climate denier now. They had to dumb it down for the lowest common denominators.

http://www.salon.com/2014/07/06/bbc_staff_ordered_to_stop_giving_equal_a...

Good news for viewers of BBC News: You’ll no longer be subjected to the unhinged ravings of climate deniers and other members of the anti-science fringe. In a report published Thursday by the BBC Trust, the network’s journalists were criticized for devoting too much airtime (as in, any airtime) to unqualified people with “marginal views” about non-contentious issues in a misguided attempt to provide editorial balance.

...

They do have one valid point though but it applies to allow news media these days they always pick a least qualified expert as editorial balance to argue with their talking heads to so they look intelligent in comparison. It is typical propaganda trick of trying to convey balance by making sure the opposing expert is really a moron to undercut whatever it is they are arguing in favor of.

...

Listen to this little Alinsky community organizer in training's conclusion on all this.

...

Were every network to start doing what the BBC is, their unfounded opinions would cease to be heard, Bill Nye wouldn’t have to keep debating them, and maybe, just maybe, they’d all just go away.

...

If could make a more convincing case the same outcome would happen also....

 

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:40 | 4986240 Four chan
Four chan's picture

long mosquito magnet.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:54 | 4986302 markmotive
markmotive's picture

Right now the biggest virus spreading across America is fear.

Fear rules everything around you. Including the fear of viruses...

http://www.planbeconomics.com/2013/07/a-virus-called-fear-documentary-sh...

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 22:16 | 4986382 Supernova Born
Supernova Born's picture

I am Chikungunya.

 

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 23:08 | 4986530 SMG
SMG's picture

Did you know ethanol can kill viruses?  Just saying...

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080101192450AAJwcpC

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 23:36 | 4986577 A Nanny Moose
A Nanny Moose's picture

I call bullshit. If it worked, we woud have eradicated the CONgress virus several years ago.

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 06:34 | 4987053 TBT or not TBT
TBT or not TBT's picture

DDT works on mosquitos that carry the virus, so uh, DDT folks?   Who's with me?  

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 08:53 | 4987333 Pool Shark
Pool Shark's picture

 

 

An epidemic in Puerto Rico?

Well, at least they have Obamacare. Oh, wait,...

 

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 09:08 | 4987387 NotAMathWhiz
NotAMathWhiz's picture

It won't catch on in the US until they give it a better marketing name.  I propose "ChickBendOver" virus.

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 01:37 | 4986824 cbxer55
cbxer55's picture

May not kill viruses, but if you drink enough the skeeters will not bite you. 

Same with stogies. ;-)

Also vitamins with a 100% RDA of Thiamin helps as well. Centrum is what I take.

 

I do both. Skeeters leave my happy ass alone.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 23:30 | 4986565 A Nanny Moose
A Nanny Moose's picture

Last of the Mohicans?

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 02:19 | 4986870 Overfed
Overfed's picture

I just wanna know who the fuck comes up with these names. Chicken-gun-ya' gonna getcha'!  Fuuuuuck me.

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 07:33 | 4987127 iamrefreshed
iamrefreshed's picture

Upvote for being well read.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:42 | 4986246 espirit
espirit's picture

Wow, another clickbait article collecting metadata on those ZH'ers that live in Florida.

We willingly give away too much information.

Cuba Libre.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:47 | 4986267 Dewey Cheatum Howe
Dewey Cheatum Howe's picture

Stop whining if you are so concerned.

https://www.hidemyass.com/proxy

They got a plug in for firefox also.

There are other methods but that is quick and dirty.

 

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 22:20 | 4986398 dvfco
dvfco's picture

I just did a lot of research on VPNs and have to say hidemyass.com was very low on the suggested list for a variety of reasons, including maintaining log file, payment histories, etc.

I know little about the whole VPN thing, but I'd suggest if you are going to invest time and money into it, you should do some thorough research first. 

Seems like TOR and TAILS are the safest forms of computer security, though both a pain in the ass to use.  In addition, I have read the NSA puts you on the list the second they see you researching or using either of them.

The only answer to the problem was to go to the public library, download TAILS and TOR to an external drive, make contact with someone on Craigslist or elsewhere from whom to buy a computer, pay cash, and don't be seen buying it.  It' over the top, but logical.  They even go so far as to  say if you buy he computer online or in a store it can always be traced.  Who knows.  My guess is that all data flow can be traced, 100%, by the NSA.  They've got the smartest scientists and unlimited cash.  I just think they are probably so brilliant they would have no common sense, street smarts or, possibly, even the ability to feed themselves without drooling on their keyboards.  So, they may get 100% of all th data, then state at it with a blank look on their faces.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 23:12 | 4986491 Dewey Cheatum Howe
Dewey Cheatum Howe's picture

I was refering to their free proxy service not vpn as a quick and dirty option to redirect your ip.

Torguard or Private Internet Access VPN are 2 of the better ones out there and they take bitcoin as payment.

Speaking of bitcoin and tor a little aside concerning namecoin.

http://p2pfoundation.net/Dot-Bit_Domains

Q. What is Dot-Bit?

A. Dot-Bit (.bit) is a new top-level domain that, unlike Dot-Com, Dot-Net, Dot-UK, etc., is NOT controlled by any government or corporation.

Q. How much do these domains cost? Are they hard to register?

A. You can register a Dot-Bit domain today using the inexpensive cryptocurrency, Namecoin (a derivative of BitCoin). Dot-Bit domains currently cost about 7 cents US to register, and you don’t have to go through anyone else to do it. It’s easy to do, and we’ve written tutorials on how to do it and where to get Namecoin.

Q. What are the advantages of Dot-Bit?

A. Dot-Bit domains are extremely resistant to being shut down or hijacked by governments, corporations or criminals. Dot-Bit domains are THE decentralized alternative to building your whole web presence on a Dot-Com or other top-level domain that can be shut down at any time for any reason by any government without due process."

...

Now here is where it gets interesting.

...

Namecoin is a fascinating substitute for the domain name system because, like Bitcoin, it is completely decentralized and censorship-resistant. Proposed censorship measures like SOPA and PIPA simply could not apply to Namecoin because it is virtually impossible to reverse or interfere with name registrations, which are enforced with strong cryptography. New top-level-domains are added by the consensus of the miners, just as Bitcoin miners must agree on the rate of growth of Bitcoin’s money supply.

Speaking of new top-level domains, the Namecoin community, such as it is, appears to be considering expanding beyond .bit to .tor. These latter domain names could be used for sites run as Tor hidden services, such as Silk Road 2.0. Instead of having to remember a URL like silkroad6ownowfk.onion (Silk Road 2.0?s current URL), the proprietors of the site could simply register silkroad.tor and point it at the onion URL. Creating memorable Tor service addresses would remove one of the main stumbling blocks to use of the censorship-resistant network. This would in turn strengthen the hand of political dissidents (not just black marketeers) all over the world.

Just as Bitcoin has uses beyond currency, Namecoin has uses beyond DNS. Namecoin is at base a decentralized key-value store. We can use it to store information about ourselves in an easily accessible form. Using the non-domain namespaces of Namecoin, we could store information that it would otherwise be hard to securely or conveniently exchange. For example, public key encryption relies on one being able to verify that one’s correspondent’s public key is actually theirs. If we’ve never communicated before, signing something with my private key only proves that I’m me if you have some good reason to believe that the corresponding public key is mine.

Under one vision of how Namecoin could be used, you could simply look up id/elidourado in the Namecoin database, and my public key would be listed. I could prominently display all over the web that my public key is accessible at id/elidourado. This would solve the problem of public key distribution.

It would also enable the distribution of other cryptographic information. For example, Bitmessage is a decentralized, encrypted messaging system that, unlike encrypted email, hides even metadata from the NSA and others. One downside is that Bitmessage addresses are about as memorable as Bitcoin addresses. But by listing our Bitmessage addresses in our id records in Namecoin, we could get seamlessly solve the problem of Bitmessage address exchange. Instead of addressing a bitmessage to BM-orkCbppXWSqPpAxnz6jnfTZ2djb5pJKDb (a public echo server), you could simply address it to id/echo. Your Bitmessage client would perform a look-up using Namecoin and send the message to the appropriate address.

...

Between bitmessage and torfone which is a secure voip protocol that works within tor, that is why they are in the network in the first place because they can't surveil it easily because of the nature of how the tor network works along with how the technologies of both work. You are slowly watching internet 2.0 unveil here. It is being built within the existing network right now in an open and decentralized manner whether people realize they are doing it or not yet. We are still in the early stages of it. If they ever cut the net off for example you easily have an integrated ad hoc able network that can pop into existence using wireless technology and things like cell phones and wireless mesh relays to communicate and facilitate commerce in a fairly secure decentralized fashion. You understand why over the long term this makes stuff like CISPA completely impotent...

http://torfone.org/

 

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 09:16 | 4987428 free_as_in_beer
free_as_in_beer's picture

Even Zion was a scam.

wakeup.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:57 | 4986309 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Because critical debate & opinion must be silenced & crushed at all costs. You are a terrist in the eyes of the state if you have evidence of collusion with the state and academic's.

Its really remarkable, its all they have left.

You're too stupid to understand and we're really smart about building models & stuffing them with hand picked bullshit, can't you see the oceans rising?...and and and...deleting emails & data (wait, wut?)...and peer reviewing with our own peers, not you little stupid people...and and and...we proved it all by getting stuck in ice all the time! (yes, you do)...and droughts and locusts...and...and...

...shut up and be taxed moar dammit!...lol.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:24 | 4986169 stacking12321
stacking12321's picture

michael snyder, alarmist extraordinaire, receives chicken little award for excellence in journalism

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:58 | 4986305 RafterManFMJ
RafterManFMJ's picture

Oh, I predict we will be seeing ALL SORTS of old diseases re-emerging due to all our new Mexican friends, or to be more PC, the undocumented breeders.

So when your little Carla contorts in agony due to disease, well, because 0bam0.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 22:28 | 4986423 Mr. Magoo
Mr. Magoo's picture

Even the mosquitoes realize that the U.S is now a third world banana republic

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 23:05 | 4986522 Miffed Microbio...
Miffed Microbiologist's picture

Yeah, I'm kind of amazed the broken window fallacy had an application to microbiology. For some reason I don't think this is a road to my prosperity.

Miffed;-)

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 01:44 | 4986830 zhandax
zhandax's picture

Sure it is.  Just become the local distributor for Mosquito Dunks.  Put on your lab coat and refer to it as Bacillus thuringiensis.

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 10:37 | 4987778 A is A
A is A's picture

Oooo sorry. Didn't you get the memo? It is "climate disruption" now. Climate change is so 2013....

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:29 | 4986191 cougar_w
cougar_w's picture

The spread of tropical tiger mosquitos is aided by global warming.

Sorry to hold you up, was busy.

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 06:39 | 4987057 TBT or not TBT
TBT or not TBT's picture

Mosquitos are aided by environmentalists who vilified DDT.   And apparently hate dairies, judging by the death toll since Silent Spring.  

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 01:49 | 4986835 junction
junction's picture

Luckily we have Obamacare just in time to take care of any outbreaks of these mosquito borne illnesses.  Being a Kenyan, Obama knows all about mosquitos.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:05 | 4986103 icanhasbailout
icanhasbailout's picture

Well, Obama does need a trigger for martial law, and he did just bring all his kids here...

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 22:08 | 4986358 dvfco
dvfco's picture

Your post sounded like a play on words, "Obama is the ..igger imposing partial law..."   Terrible, I know.

 

Reminds me of the joke about the difference between the Russian Olympic Gymanstic Team and its Women's track team.  The former is a bunch of cunning runts.

Sorry - racist - mysogynistic - I'm not really like this - I swear.  I have a lot of black friends.   It's been a stressful week.  

No, please, I didn't mean it.  Only a joke . . . too soon?  Ahh.

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 03:28 | 4986869 Colonel Klink
Colonel Klink's picture

The better one is what's the difference between a pygmy and Hillary Clinton?  The pygmy is a cunning runt.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 23:10 | 4986535 HardAssets
HardAssets's picture

In a few years those youths will be young men. Very strong candidates for Dream Act citizenship. All they gotta do is serve in the military, or 'a new domestic security force as well funded as the military'.

Chilling thought, huh ?

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:09 | 4986115 J Pancreas
J Pancreas's picture

Mercy.... Meeeerrrrrrcy....

 

Please Tylers, no more Michael Snyder articles.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:17 | 4986148 Statetheist
Statetheist's picture

'Possible Epidemic? The Michael Snyder Virus Is Starting To Spread On Zerohedge.'

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:20 | 4986157 SumTing Wong
SumTing Wong's picture

Oh holy shit...if the gun-grabbers don't get us, then the mosquitos will. Just eat tons of garlic and those little bastards leave you alone. No EEE for me either...my shoe width is a much more reasonable D.

What I'm really worried about is the boogeyman under my bed. 

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:26 | 4986179 Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill's picture

NSA or DEA boogeyman "

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:46 | 4986260 Surging Chaos
Surging Chaos's picture

At least it wasn't another one of his lists.

"N examples that show X is out of control" starts to get boring pretty quick.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:13 | 4986128 Moe Hamhead
Moe Hamhead's picture

But he better keep movin' and don't stand still,

If the skeeters don't get him then the 'gators will.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:13 | 4986129 Platinum
Platinum's picture

The situation at the US southern border is the perfect vector for such a viral outbreak. With the lack of medical screening, it is only a matter of time, like the early part of the school year, before a wave of diseases starts hitting major cities.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:52 | 4986291 Bomp
Bomp's picture

Agreed.

 

I'm not saying this virus is something to lose your mind over, but it ain't no joke. My father-in-law travels to Peurto Rico all the time, hope he isn't the nidus for this epidemic in Alabama. Lord knows we have our share of skeeters, and then some.

 

Ugh, in laws....

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:13 | 4986134 Seasmoke
Seasmoke's picture

Tampa bay reliever Peralta has it....

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:16 | 4986146 Statetheist
Statetheist's picture

"According to Slate"

Stopped reading. Although I really should have stopped as soon as I saw Snyder's name.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 22:20 | 4986395 Lin S
Lin S's picture

I stop whenever I see Michael Snyder on anything, but I do enjoy the ZH reader comments.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:17 | 4986147 NoWayJose
NoWayJose's picture

Another excuse to move 2 million more long term unemployed (i.e. lazy) over to disability...

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 03:23 | 4986933 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

People like you are a good reason for raising Lyme and Babesia infected ticks and then walking around the Private Schools...of maybe Wall Street...and the Hamptons. You give me INCENTIVE.

 

Hell...I am a carrier...A walking Biological Warfare Laboratory. Your Government did that to me. YOU PAID FOR IT WITH YOUR TAXES.

 

And if you believe me to lack the Technical expertise...you are very mistaken. I have more than enough skills. I am just as capable as the DARPA Scientists at Plum Island.

 

Maybe I have had it wrong these past three decades...Maybe you, and your ilk, need a dose so you know how it feels.

 

Now you can eradicate me...IF YOU HAVE THE BALLS TO TRY IT.

 

I live at 12223B Woodside Ave. Lakeside, CA, USA.

 

Bring it on...

 

Or did your Alligator Mouth bite off more than your chickenshit asshole can handle?

 

 

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:21 | 4986161 NoWayJose
NoWayJose's picture

Seen anyone from an infected country cross our southern border (illegally) recently? Our Mosquitos like Spanish food too!

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:24 | 4986175 rsnoble
rsnoble's picture

That's it. Seal the borders. Fuck globalism.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:40 | 4986239 stacking12321
stacking12321's picture

fuck borders.

seal the government. in a concrete tomb.

no welfare state = no problem.

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 08:02 | 4987157 rsnoble
rsnoble's picture

I would have no problem with that.  

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:31 | 4986199 cougar_w
cougar_w's picture

Yet another gift for our children to deal with.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:31 | 4986203 WeNeedaRealGovt
WeNeedaRealGovt's picture

One more thing for moronic ZHers to blame on Obama.  Carry on.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 22:00 | 4986322 Freedumb
Freedumb's picture

If you like your Chikungunya, you can keep your Chikungunya

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 23:03 | 4986516 ObamaDepression
ObamaDepression's picture

No worries, our borders are secure......right?

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:33 | 4986210 CheapBastard
CheapBastard's picture

I already duck taped all my windows, locked my kids in the basement [with 24/7 Kim Kardashian and Jason Beeper reruns] and switched to the 100% water filters and double checked all my ammo and gas masks. Am I safe now?

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 22:03 | 4986340 RafterManFMJ
RafterManFMJ's picture

NO! The phone calls are coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE!

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 22:40 | 4986449 WeNeedaRealGovt
WeNeedaRealGovt's picture

CheapBastard

Am I safe now?

Not, just sound as stupid as ever...what is with you cowardly lions?  I thought you ZHers were salt of the earth?  Well armed and not afraid of anything!

You guys remind me of...well...newly minted Fox  Faux News viewers scared to go outside, literally.  You just posted that you're afraid. 

Do you actually read your posts?

I guess it turns out the Liberals are the ones with balls.  Hah!

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 02:21 | 4986876 Colonel Klink
Colonel Klink's picture

"I guess it turns out the Liberals are the ones with balls.  Hah!"

Yep, in their mouth!  HAH!

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:37 | 4986220 williambanzai7
williambanzai7's picture

Possible remedy: We can infect the chikungunya virus with Eric Holders blood...

If that sounds racist, I meant no disrespect to the virus.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:37 | 4986235 nmewn
nmewn's picture

lol...I stopped at "And just because it is usually not fatal does not mean..."

And there's another two minutes I'll never get back.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:45 | 4986255 espirit
espirit's picture

Just when you thought it was safe to venture out...

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:52 | 4986289 dvfco
dvfco's picture

I hate to be the paranoid one, but it's bad shit.  I lived in the D.R., in a pretty well-to-do communitty.  (Well-to-do meant we had indoor plumbing, could walk to the beach, and everyone could afford their next meal - nothing special.)

However, the one thing that bothered me is that my development had three or four guys that would walk around the development at sundown every night for about an hour with what us 'Mericans think are leaf blowers, but they were foggers full of chemicals to kill off all the mosquitos.  It bothered me a little because I had my three kids with me and they were aged 3 thru 8.  I thought it was, ya know, overkill.

However, one week my family wasn't in the house I let my friend and his fiancee stay there.  He came down with dengue fever from a mosquito bite.  He had >104 degree fevers for days and he said he's never felt 1/10th the pain. 

This Cucumunga Virus (sorry - good Grateful Dead Song) is supposed to be worse.  No, it doesn't kill you, but you truly, realy wish you were dead.  I had a few other friends from down there who had gotten the dengue either in the DR or when in Vietnam, and they'll never forget it   I think they'd have begged for malaria if they had a choice.

This is just my opinion based upon some casual observences, but I think it's going to a bad worldwide outbreak.  (And I do know the West Nile Virus was bullshit.  Serously.  It eemed like a bad cold - at its worst.)

Oh, and the friend I let use my place - his wife left him before their 1st anniversary.  I stll feel a little bad about that one.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 22:07 | 4986355 RafterManFMJ
RafterManFMJ's picture

Oh but for those Halcyon days of yore, where one treatment of DDT kept a house mosquito free for a year.

But DDT makes eggs thin - right? Sure it does!

Anyone know what we're up to - 500 million dead due to banning DDT?

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 01:16 | 4986789 SokPOTUS
SokPOTUS's picture

I'm all for conservation; because I really do think we are destroying the planet.  Via dumbass wars, through shoddy nuke plant engineering (on the ocean near a fault line FTW), through GMO's, etc. but not through bullshit drama concocted by politicians to connive votes and money.

In Pittsburgh, near her hometown; they named a rather large bridge after Rachel Carson; the Mass Murderer.  Saved some dirty birds perhaps, but killed countless Africans.  But, hey, she meant well.

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 02:19 | 4986872 PoliticalRefuge...
PoliticalRefugeefromCalif.'s picture

Sounds like a natural lateral move into diversifying for some enterprising undocumented pharmacists out there, start running a few kilos of DDT dust once the market grows right along with the regular coke, just be careful with the CIA getting the wrong idea about you stepping on their toes, probably a good idea to go ahead and pay them rent for the franchise.. 

..when life gives you lemons...

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 02:49 | 4986906 MisterMousePotato
MisterMousePotato's picture

If life hands you a bowl of melons, you might be dyslexic.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 22:10 | 4986224 Burticus
Burticus's picture

Planned and executed by the Bushbama regime, "protecting each of (the states) from invasion" by ignoring the constitution & laws and instead following open borders/non-enforcement/amnesty policy for the last 30 years.  Allowing 20 million anonymous foreigners to invade & colonize the states, while groping women and irradiating children citizens traveling between states (for their thafety, to protect their freedom).

It has been suggested that the ruling elephant/jackass party's plan is to intentionally flood the states with more disease-infested illiterate peasants, then use the "act surprised" epidemics to declare martial law and either vaccinate at gunpoint, murder or kidnap citizens of the states who refuse.  The recorded phone/text/e-mails, surveillance cameras, drones, Navistar APCs, full-auto rifles and 2 billion rounds of ammo will come in handy.

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 01:19 | 4986795 SokPOTUS
SokPOTUS's picture

They might regret it for a second when their own kids die of disease or get raped by MS-13.

Nah, who am I kidding.  Psychopaths don't think like that.

 

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 01:21 | 4986796 SokPOTUS
SokPOTUS's picture

.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:36 | 4986227 get-sum
get-sum's picture

No big deal, once these fucking mosquitos die off, the real fun will be in the public schools with all the new imported kiddies. A liitle TB here, some scabies there...soccer moms everywhere will be shitting a brick and screaming for moochelle to kick her "husbands" ass

 

 

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:37 | 4986228 get-sum
get-sum's picture

No big deal, once these fucking mosquitos die off, the real fun will be in the public schools with all the new imported kiddies. A liitle TB here, some scabies there...soccer moms everywhere will be shitting a brick and screaming for moochelle to kick her "husbands" ass

 

 

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:43 | 4986245 rsnoble
rsnoble's picture

Sad comment at first till I got to the part about screaming soccer moms now i'm not so sure. LOL.

No worries, WW3 will take care of this virus.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:48 | 4986273 espirit
espirit's picture

Currency war is WWIII, or a prelude thereof.

Just wait until the mosquito vector can be bio-weaponized.

Conspiracy theory =  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:43 | 4986249 WTFUD
WTFUD's picture

FRIENDS OF CARLOTTA ( not many )
ENEMIES OF CARLOTTA ( plenty )

DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID BARRY O

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:44 | 4986252 One And Only
One And Only's picture

Don't discriminate against the Chikungunya or it's people. Don't be racist, accept it.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:51 | 4986262 Sun and Moon
Sun and Moon's picture

Earthquakes, plagues, volcanos, tsunamis, floods, droughts, hurricanes, tornados, meteor showers: Mother Nature once again proves that she is the ultimate terrorist.

Thanks, Mom!

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:47 | 4986263 americanspirit
americanspirit's picture

bzzzzzzzzz

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 21:47 | 4986264 Rehab Willie
Rehab Willie's picture

didn't yellen just tell us to sell our biotechs

 

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 22:03 | 4986339 A82EBA
A82EBA's picture

Damn I live in Montgomery County

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 06:25 | 4987046 1stepcloser
1stepcloser's picture

could be worse, you could be in PG county..

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 22:05 | 4986344 Dewey Cheatum Howe
Dewey Cheatum Howe's picture

Off topic but speaking of potential pandemics.

This just in from China.

http://qz.com/237643/kfc-pizza-hut-and-mcdonalds-are-hit-with-a-new-chin...

A supplier in Shanghai that provides chicken and beef to KFC, McDonald’s, and Pizza Hut restaurants in China has been selling beef and chicken as much as one year past their expiry dates. An investigative report found that expired meat products were “were repackaged after processing and their shelf life was prolonged for another year.”

Chinese health authorities in Shanghai have suspended the supplier, Shanghai Husi Food Co. Both McDonald’s and Yum (the US owner of KFC and Pizza Hut) and have issued statements on their Weibo accounts saying they have stopped using Shanghai Husi. The supplier is owned by a US-based meat processing firm OSI Group.

An undercover Dragon Television reporter found that in June 18 tons of chicken skin that was over half a month past its expiry date had been used for chicken nuggets, and that beef more than a month past its expiry had been used for KFC burgers. The meat was pulverized and processed to extend its shelf life for another year, according to the report. Workers told Dragon Television that the meat smelled but “eating it wouldn’t kill you.”

According to the South China Morning Post (paywall), the Dragon footage shows Shanghai Husi workers “picking up food from the floor and throwing it into processing machines.” Discarded McDonald’s McNuggets were “reprocessed until they passed inspection.”

...

Yummy.

More on the OSI Group

http://qz.com/237708/the-us-meat-processing-company-at-the-rotten-center...

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 01:26 | 4986809 SokPOTUS
SokPOTUS's picture

They don't call it "Yum!" Brands for nuthin'.

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 23:43 | 4986598 Turin Turambar
Turin Turambar's picture

Never let a good crisis go to waste, and if you don't have one, manufacture one.  Yeah, killer pandemic on the way.  LOL  Whatever. 

Mon, 07/21/2014 - 23:59 | 4986637 tony wilson
tony wilson's picture

listen you scum suckers.

bill gates and monsanto have told you too take your vaccine shots take the medicine.

it is for the good of mankind init your death that is.

 

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 00:02 | 4986646 MASTER OF UNIVERSE
MASTER OF UNIVERSE's picture

Seriously, this is where the NSA can assist SUPERBUG monitoring

for Infectious Disease throughout the world. Infectious Disease tracking starts in airports in so far as the International travel lands one in any

International airport and airports are the domain of the intelligence communities because the are legislated to monitor airports and have jurisdiction as well. Given the NSA phone app tracing and the ether grabs of meta-data off of wireless it is easy to trace anyone with a phone walking off of an airplane. The NSA and the CDC should get together on this because the proliferation of SUPERBUGS is getting out of hand. Ask

yourself if you are aware of the amount of SUPERBUGS we are dealing with today? The last time I checked we had over 800 and counting. A new SUPERBUG is detected just about every week now and the numbers are skyrocketing. Detection capabilities are poor and the CDC will start freaking out really soon IMHO. The top Infectious Disease researchers in the world are screaming for worldwide detection systems and this is something the God damned NSA has to help them out with. For all the tracking capability the NSA has I can't figure out why they don't align with the CDC? Who is dumber? The NSA or the CDC? They are equally shit-for-brains IMHO.

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, NSA.

OCCUPY THE NSA - OCCUPY THE CDC - OCCUPY EVERYTHING

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 04:35 | 4986991 MiTasol
MiTasol's picture

Oh well, I've already had Malaria and Dengue, might as well complete the set.

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 05:10 | 4987011 Frankie Carbone
Frankie Carbone's picture

Great, I live by the Everglades and our misquitos down here have four engines. Think of a KC-135 airborne tanker flying in reverse.  

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 08:03 | 4987162 rsnoble
rsnoble's picture

Just a random thought this am but don't most 3rd world shitholes have all kinds of crap like this?  Just getting prepared I guess.

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 08:20 | 4987204 Mesquite
Mesquite's picture

I hear the ones up north have clearance lights on em...

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 08:39 | 4987259 DadzMad
DadzMad's picture

Mom's gonna fix it all soon.

Mom's comin' round to put it back the way it ought to be.

Learn to swim.

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 09:39 | 4987506 mastersnark
mastersnark's picture

350 out of 300 million people in this country get infected with a disease with a 0.4% mortality rate and screeds like this show up? Geez, we are spoiled...

Tue, 07/22/2014 - 09:43 | 4987520 rwe2late
rwe2late's picture

 Ever increasing dosages of DDT and Round-up will not keep people healthy and well-fed, any more than increasing militarism will keep people secure.
 There is such a reality as blowback, whether environmental or social. Killing off the birds, amphibians, fish, and insects that eat mosquitoes in order to kill off mosquitoes hardly ends the problem.
 CAFO meat and Monsanto plants will breed disease, old and new. So long as people over-populate, pollute, and live in their own unhealthy CAFO conditions, the problems will persist.
 Fantasies about hermetically sealing borders and killing off all perceived "threats" from other humans and other life forms is a fantasy, a diabolic one at that. The fear-driven madness to achieve a zero death rate and a zero illness rate and  zero threats from other humans by poisons, herbicides, and homicides generates more problems than are solved. 
 The mindset needs to be changed, and it will not come about easily. The compartmentalized thinking that  militarism and disease,  refugees and drug wars, displaced persons and  globalized trade, poisons and famines, environmental destruction and oligarchies are each and all separate and disconnected is what needs change foremost.

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!