Forget Zombies: disease is back

StrategyPage on Central Africa notes that there is a polio epidemic, thanks to BokoHarum, a small Ebola outbreak, and lots of refugees fleeing political infighting. Sigh.

 they also note China's investments there in mining for copper and cobalt, but that China is getting shafted and may have second thoughts on the deal.

but there is some good news: Volkswagon is making cars in Rwanda...
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Measles outbreak in Brazil originated in cases imported from Venezuela.

measles outbreak in Portland Oregon. No report on it's origin.

other recent measles outbreaks include Taiwan, Ukraine, Greece, Serbia, and Minnesota.

this disease is very infectious person to person: and it can kill, especially those with malnutrition or immune problems.

But more disturbing are diseases that are being spread by mosquitoes: such as Yellow Fever (in Brazil and Nigeria).

Brazil is fighting with vaccine, but there is a vaccine shortage. 
But habitat clean up is most needed (as in "drain the swamp" and use insecticides). The article blames people for moving into the jungle. Dang those poor people trying to make a living. But it is spreading to the cities, so maybe it is the lack of sewers to drain the rain and the failure of the gov't to spray high risk areas.

There was an epidemic in Angola back in 2916, that spread to the Congo and even to China, but they did manage to clean up the place and give out enough vaccines to stop it:

that was good news, because the same mosquito that carries dengue fever, which is endemic in East and south Asia, also could spread yellow fever.

And no, this mosquito spread disease is not from global warming: Ask Dr Rush about the 1793 epidemic in Philadelphia.

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speaking of dengue: The newfangled anti Dengue vaccine that they gave out to stop the local epidemic here was found to make things worse.

Now they are checking if corruption/bribes led to the introduction of the vaccine prematurely.

Duterte, so far, is keeping his mouth shut, because it's not clear if it was corruption, or merely ignorance (and a coverup by the vaccine manufacturer about possible problems) that encouraged the government to buy and use the vaccine, which was originally tested and found to work in Brazil...

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related item: I put a few drops of medicine on my dogs to keep them free from ticks.

Time notes that this could work in humans, not just for ticks but for mosquitoes. (headsup Instapundit.)

in the past, moms would put animal flea collars on their kids, but this is discouraged because they are toxic if the collar gets chewed on or even if it gets wet.

DEET works best, but the "natural" method is citronella of course: or eat Marmite.

it doesn't work very well, but better than nothing.


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