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7.6.13

ANYONE FOR DENGUE?

MOSQUITOS
I hate the little beggars - as far as I can see they serve no useful purpose. They're a damn nuisance at best and a positive danger at worst, and what they transmit can be lethal. There are plenty of other insects to fill any gap they might leave in the food chain if they were to be eradicated, and the sooner the better.
Now we in Tenerife have another reason to fear them.
Apparently the yellow fever mosquito - this one, Aedes aegypti, which can also carry 'dengue' - has already travelled by air to Madeira and Capo Verde. There were supposed to be airport checks here in January but as usual there was some sort of bureaucratic cock-up. There are reports that AENA - the airport authority - wanted scientists from the Institute of Tropical Diseases to take an airport safety course. What does that mean - do not walk in front of a jet engine? Watch out for carelessly thrown suitcases? Surely it doesn't take that long to learn what not to do?
We might get the checks this month, the paper tells us. Meanwhile - pass the mozzie spray!

5 comments:

  1. If there is an advantage to mosquitos I don't know what it is.

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  2. I agree with Patsy - spreading disease doesn't seem very helpful in the long term.

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  3. I always thought that we didn't have that problem in the UK but someone told me recently that we do... so... when you've finished with that spray!

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  4. Mosquitos are the worst. We have quite a problem with them spreading West Nile Virus here every summer. The branch of the Center for Disease Control here in Fort Collins is working on a vaccine for dengue fever. Maybe they've got it already, I'm not sure.

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  5. have been several times to costa del silencio .es cerca de las galletas.Was always a pleasure.
    never had problems with mosquitos. the south is pretty dry. should be the reason. dengue in madeira means dengue in tenerife sooner or later. Economically : ADIOS T. Disaster.

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