by vox_mundi » Tue 26 Jan 2016, 12:15:41
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', '.').. We live in a special place surfing a special time. It allows us to have refined and high ideals. We should be grateful.
Agreed.
If it was up to the Spartans, half of us would be dead by now.
Looks like nature is trying to even the score ...
Mosquitos capable of carrying Zika virus found in Washington, D.C.$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '.')..
Zika virus is transmitted by the mosquito species
Aedes aegypti, also a carrier of
dengue fever and
chikungunya, two other tropical diseases.
Though Aedes aegypti is not native to North America, researchers at the University of Notre Dame who study the species have reported a discovery of a major population of the mosquitos in a Capitol Hill neighborhood in Washington, D.C.
To add insult to injury, the team identified genetic evidence that these mosquitoes have overwintered for at least the past four years, meaning they are adapting for persistence in a northern climate well out of their normal range.While the Washington population is currently disease-free, Notre Dame Department of Biological Sciences professor David Severson, who led t
he team, noted that the ability of this species to survive in a northern climate is troublesome. This mosquito is typically restricted to tropical and subtropical regions of the world and not found farther north in the United States than Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina."What this means for the scientific world," said Severson, who led the team, "is some mosquito species are finding ways to survive in normally restrictive environments by taking advantage of underground refugia. Therefore, a real potential exists for active transmission of mosquito-borne tropical diseases in popular places like the National Mall. Hopefully, politicians will take notice of events like this in their own backyard and work to increase funding levels on mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases."
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