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A new mosquito, Aedes japonicus, arrived in 2005 and thrives at higher elevations, including Volcano. It's much larger than the usual day-biting mosquito, Aedes albopictus, and the body is brown rather than black (both have black and white striped legs). It's now on Kauai and Oahu as well, though it doesn't seem to be in the same kind of places there. Fortunately it doesn't spread avian malaria, so it's not a threat to the birds; I don't know if it can transmit dengue.
One thing to keep in mind is that the main mosquito here, Aedes albopictus, is relatively inefficient at transmitting dengue; the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, is much better. However, it's very good at transmitting chikungunya, an emerging disease which began in Africa and is now endemic in South America, and has reached Florida. If that arrives here, we're in bad shape...
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Don't know this person or blog, but it has good links regarding the disease.
http://karenchun.com/dept-of-health-drop...nd-dengue/
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A little Googling shows that they have released GMO mosquitoes in some areas with the amazing results of decimating the local mosquito population: Discuss.
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GMO mosquitoes
It's fine with me, as long as they clearly label them as such.
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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Here's a little positive news about Dengue and Chikungunya
http://www.homeopathyworldcommunity.com/...ngunya-and
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Pressure is now on the Hawaii Department of Health regarding this blog, perhaps now we will get some answers!
http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2015/1...s-persist/
http://commonsensehome.com/natural-mosquito-repellents/
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I wonder if the Hawaii health department is "Lawyering Up" to deal with all the lawsuits that could happen for deliberately keeping the infected area(s) a secret? I for one would avoid a specific area if I knew I was more likely to get infected there.
It's like they are doing the opposite of everything we know about the transmission of diseases.
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If the state continues to handle this the way other Big Island pestilential infestations have been handled, we are in big trouble. They don't have a good track record, but we can only hope and pray that the Health Department is somehow not as incompetent as the rest of the state government. Withholding the locations of the documented infections is not a good start and only reinforces the perception that they are either lame or trying to hide something.
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"pray that the Health Department is somehow not as incompetent as the rest of the state government"
NAILED IT.
