The CDC expects the number of infections to increase with summer travel.
QUICK FACTS:
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a warning after malaria was found in Florida and Texas in the last two months, the first time the disease has been detected in the United States in twenty years.
- Florida has reported four cases of the disease in Sarasota County.
- Texas has reported only one local case of the disease in the last two months, marking the first time the disease has been locally acquired since 1994.
- Although CDC stated it is concerned about a “potential rise in imported malaria cases associated with increased international travel” due to the summer, the organization noted that locally acquired malaria is “extremely low.”
- The last malaria outbreak in the US occurred in 2003 after eight individuals were infected with the disease in Palm Beach County, Florida.
- Dr. Richard Bartlett, a 30-year Texas emergency room physician, told American Faith: “The most likely source of malaria and other rare diseases appearing in U.S. is infected illegal aliens who were not screened for disease, not climate change. Give me a break.”
MALARIA IN MEXICO:
- An outbreak of malaria was reported in Oaxaca, Mexico in December.
- There were 21 confirmed cases of the disease in the area, according to the National Epidemiological Surveillance System (SNAVE) and the Sanitary Jurisdiction.
- The Jurisdictional Committee for Epidemiological Surveillance conducted household spraying in an effort to rid the area of the disease, and carried out a search for potential malaria cases.
- At the time, there were 157 total cases of malaria in Mexico.
- Campeche reportedly had 30 cases of the disease, Chiapas 94, Oaxaca 21, Chihuahua 8, Sinaloa had only 1, and Tabasco 3.
- According to the CDC, the most likely areas of malaria transmission within Mexico are Chiapas and the southern part of Chihuahua.
- The U.S. agency recommends CDC recommends that “travelers going to certain areas of Mexico take prescription medicine to prevent malaria.”
BACKGROUND:
- Bill Gates funded a biotechnology firm that genetically engineered mosquitos that were to be released in California and Florida.
- “This is a destructive move that is dangerous for public health,” said Dana Perls from Friends of the Earth, an environmental advocacy organization.
- “Once you release these mosquitoes into the environment, you cannot recall them,” Perls said. “This could, in fact, create problems that we don’t have already.”
- Jaydee Hanson from the Center of Food Safety noted, “There are no locally acquired cases of dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, or Zika in California.”
- “Releasing billions of GE mosquitoes makes it likely that female GE mosquitoes will get out and create hybrid mosquitoes that are more virulent and aggressive,” he said.
