by Falcon
August 23, 2010
Big write up and audio piece done by NPR - very much worth checking out
Read and listen here
cc37afb7-5c16-42a8-a12c-eb02a897c8ed|0|.0
Tags:
by Falcon
August 16, 2010
Outbreaks of bed bugs, soaring in the most unexpected places -- like CNN's headquarters -- stoke some of our deepest fears.
August 16, 2010 |
Peter Krask stepped out of his New York City apartment one day last year, shut the door, and walked away forever, leaving behind almost everything he owned.
He carried away only a few items of clothing, personal records, and his computer.
Krask's apartment was infested with bedbugs. Savoring warmth, they swarmed in his DSL port, light fixtures, carpets and furniture. They'd feasted on him nightly for a year — which he spent visiting doctors in an increasing state of panic over the rashes inflaming his buttocks and other body parts before finally ascertaining the cause.
It was Cimex lectularius, the flat, cockroach-colored, lentil-sized pest whose favorite food is not just warm blood but human blood. Bedbugs are back, bigtime. According to a National Pest Management Association study, outbreaks have soared 81 percent nationwide since 2000. Their sudden resurgence in all fifty states of a formerly bedbug-free nation has caught off-guard not just the medical and pest-control industries but millions of ordinary people who now apply costly, time-consuming, potentially toxic and inconclusive strategies for slaughtering insects that inhabit indoor environments both soft and hard and can lie in wait without eating for up to a year. Finding hosts, they feed by night, doubling in size as they suck.
Read Entire Story at Alternet
3953c250-e5c5-4e74-9787-470fffa43277|1|2.0
Tags:
Bed Bugs
by Falcon
August 09, 2010
by Falcon
August 04, 2010
By Bob LaMendola, Sun Sentinel
A tourist from Miami-Dade County contracted the mosquito-borne disease dengue fever while visiting Key West earlier this month, health officials in Florida said Monday.
Read the Entire Story Here
0dcb8391-dcd4-47d2-aeab-000b44b83578|0|.0
Tags:
by Falcon
July 28, 2010
abc56950-496f-468f-b537-976e0af8845c|0|.0
Tags:
Oddities
by Falcon
July 27, 2010
5182da6a-9e1f-465a-927e-d38616065370|0|.0
Tags:
by Falcon
July 20, 2010
By Laurie J Schmidt from Popular Science
The new bug is the first with complete resistance to the parasite -- and it passes that gene on to its children
Scientists at the University of Arizona have successfully bred genetically modified mosquitoes that are 100 percent resistant to the malaria parasite, rendering the mosquito incapable of infecting humans with malaria.
For years, researchers have tried to engineer mosquitoes so that they're immune to the parasite that carries malaria -- a single-celled organism called Plasmodium. But previous attempts only succeeded in destroying about 97 percent of malaria parasites in mosquitoes' bodies. The difference between 97 and 100 percent might seem negligible, but Michael Riehle, who led the new study, says that 3 percent means the difference between success and failure. "If you want to effectively stop the spreading of the malaria parasite, you need mosquitoes that are no less than 100 percent resistant to it," he said.
Read entire story here
by Falcon
July 09, 2010
b3d8982f-5812-40ae-9517-70bc9f586f88|0|.0
Tags:
Oddities
by Falcon
July 02, 2010
DADE CITY — Health officials have confirmed a case of Eastern equine encephalitis in a local horse, prompting reminders to east Pasco residents to protect themselves against mosquito-borne diseases.
The disease was found in a Dade City horse that had been euthanized, said Deanna Krautner, spokeswoman for the Pasco County Health Department.
"Although cases of (Eastern equine encephalitis) are rare in humans, if a person gets sick with the disease it is often serious and can even be fatal," said county health officer Dr. David Johnson.
Read the whole story at St. Peteresburg Times
fcca2051-592a-4268-91f5-91f422e1131c|0|.0
Tags:
In the News
by Falcon
June 11, 2010
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Homeowners and pest control technicians have a new option for identifying bugs lurking in houses and other buildings — and it’s as close as a cell phone.
A downloadable application developed by researchers with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences provides color photos and text describing almost 40 pest species.
Called iPest1, it’s one of the first mobile-phone apps dealing with pest insects. It’s compatible with Apple mobile devices including the popular iPhone and sells for $1.99.
Check it out here