Are we ready for an epidemic this summer?

[Stonepounder]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/summer-is-coming--and-its-bringing-infectious-disease-with-it/2018/05/04/baa65caa-4ed7-11e8-af46-b1d6dc0d9bfe_story.html?utm_term=.a64ff055b539

Summer is coming. And if you think a warm-weather surge of mosquitoes and ticks is not as frightening as the fictional winter’s White Walkers from “Game of Thrones,” you haven’t read this week’s report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the rapidly escalating danger of infectious diseases spread by insects.

The CDC’s key findings: The number of Americans infected with such diseases, including Zika, West Nile and Lyme, has more than tripled in a decade, jumping from about 30,000 cases a year in 2006 to almost 100,000 in 2016. This total includes nine types of infections never before seen in the United States, including Zika and chikungunya. Looking ahead, 80 percent of state and local health departments are not ready for the insect-borne threat we are facing in just a few weeks.

<snip>

But the biggest challenge is Trump himself. When the United States faced the West African Ebola epidemic in 2014, Trump attacked science-based responses to the threat and essentially argued that President Barack Obama should leave American health-care workers in Africa to die when they were sickened while fighting the disease. (Obama didn’t, and they were saved.) Trump has “energized” the anti-vaccine movement that imperils all that Gates and his allies are trying to achieve. He has proposed an 80 percent reduction in programs designed to stop dangerous diseases overseas before they come to the United States.

The xenophobia that Trump preached during the 2016 campaign contributed to congressional delay as reports emerged about a Zika outbreak arriving here. Trump’s anti-immigration followers said that tougher immigration laws — not public-health measures — were the way to stop Zika. While Congress dithered, Zika took root in parts of Florida and Texas, and — for the first time in history — the CDC had to issue an advisory against travel to parts of the continental United States.

And folks, it ain't getting any better. Trump still doesn't have a Science Advisor. Bolton pushed out the NSC official tasked with pandemic preparation. Oh, and remember, Trump - either intentionally or unintentionally - is whipping up the anti-vaccination BS. Isn't life (or death) under Trump just wonderful?

[misanthrope]

1. I just keep thinking about how many of those

"Drill Baby Drill," climate-change and environmental prudence scoffers live in muggy and mosquito-infested portions of the nation. Get ready folks because here come the fruits of your actions.

[rusty quoin]

2. Like David Cay Johnston has said, Trump is undermining this government as we speak.

All the bad stuff in which we use to depend on government to work and protect us is weakened all the time.

It scares the shit out of me.

[Crash2Parties]

4. Trump is just the bright, shiny object to catch our attention.

The GOP controlled Congress could stop him any day they choose. Each day, they choose to not do so.

[rusty quoin]

6. Sure, but that shiny object could do what he wants to.

I am not so sure that 3 branches will work out.

I am scared. The Republicans already have shown their willingness to protect their own party.

We are in a desperate situation. I use to think the Bush years were dire.

[Crash2Parties]

19. The founding fathers had too much trust in white male exceptionalism

They assumed that anyone in power would be part of the Good Ol Boys club and thus always maintain that sense of propriety. What we are witnessing is a sort of slow coup by a group who is driven by greed.

What I'm trying to sort out is how much of it is actually Dominionist, as they've been openly planning exactly such a thing for several decades & would appear to have accomplished it. Yet, I find myself questioning if they'd go along with such overt greed and corporate interests?

[Demovictory9]

18. good point!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Washington, D.C. and Florida have warm, damp, muggy climates.

Wouldn't it be a damn shame if the President got some unpleasant mosquito-borne tropical disease?

[Silver1]

5. Please people, if you've been bitten by a tick ...

go to your Dr as soon as possible and test for Lyme, Babesia, aand Bartonella. Our child went undiagnosed for 2 years, and we've spent 3 years treating them. Utter nightmare.

It didn't have to go this way for us or for so many other families. Flint doesn't have water, Lyme patients are just as ignored.

[smirkymonkey]

10. So sorry to hear about your child.

Thank you for your warning and welcome to DU!

[Silver1]

20. Thanks for your welcome.

I'm really glad to be at DU. I don't even read the news anymore, just check in here to stay current.

Our girl is through the worst of Lyme, almost back. We're still in the woods though, so to speak. Still holding our breaths. Early detection is key. The only problem is the tests for Lyme are not reliable, and are only 50% accurate! The CDC has dropped the ball, but I think that's about to change soon.

[SWBTATTReg]

12. Good advice...check your animals too!

My dog had it (was acting up), took to the vet, and found out that she had Lyme's disease. After a routine of antibiotics, she was fine.

I later found out that I had it too, when they found antibodies to Lyme disease in my annual blood tests that told them (docs) that I had in the past (probably same time as my dog got).

[Silver1]

21. Ticks are surviving the warmer winters. Not good for mammals.

I'm glad you caught it and dealt with it. Lyme can be terrible if it's missed.

[SWBTATTReg]

22. Thanks...I know of some repair guys who work in a farm/ranch environment...

and one of the tricks they used to keep ticks off them was to wear panty hose...don't laugh...it keeps them from being able to bite you through the material...just a heads up...besides DEET too...

[murielm99]

7. Would 45 do anything about

an epidemic, even if it hit the reddest states the hardest? Maybe that would open some eyes in red states. But i don't think 45 knows how to respond to an emergency. I don't think any of the incompetents surrounding him know anything either.

Trump thinks that if ya can't nuke it or threaten it, it is not worth bothering about.

[Nay]

14. No, he would not. Trumpers just aren't smart enough to realize that he despises them,

too, along with us 'libtards.'

[nolabels]

8. Thank you for the heads up on the next episode of 'how did we get here'

I could sense something like this was upcoming but only had a few loose clues.
This does happen to fill in the picture a little better

[smirkymonkey]

11. The chickens are going to come home to roost soon enough.

But who do you think they'll blame? Hillary, of course. Or Obama. Anybody but whose fault it really is. I have a very uneasy feeling that we are destined for a hellish period in history that we have never know the likes of.

[lunatica]

9. Trump. The father of the looming dystopia

There is no way we can eradicate insect born diseases once they’re established.

Sigh...

[mnhtnbb]

13. The guy who works with the handyman I use

was at the house doing yard work Thursday. Getting it ready to list it . He had been pulling weeds for a few minutes when the handyman arrived in his truck and I heard him ask if he had any bug spray. The guy had taken 4 ticks off himself in just a few minutes! I had bug spray in the house and brought it out for them both to use.

The house is in a wooded area with lots of deer.

[Greybnk48]

15. I was just treated for anaplasmosis from a deer tick!

14 days of doxycycline, but at least it's curable unlike Lyme disease. Mine used to be called ehrlichiosis, but is was changed to anaplasmosis recently.

I'm in N.E. Wisconsin, 69 y/o female. I live in town and don't often go into the woods although we do like to get out now and then. We have two dogs, who may have brought them in. The symptoms come in waves and can mimic M.S., which I thought I may have had. It's a real stinker.

[raven mad]

16. We're about 2 weeks out from mosquito season -

and, as bad as it is, I have loaded up on DEET. Very few ticks; usually Southeast or on military areas; they don't usually last a winter here in the Interior.

I have NO hope that the idiots in this misAdministration gives a damn.

[appalachiablue]

17. K & R Serious reality, what a climate and time we're in.