Safety around creepy crawlies

Simply be prepared and you should be safe from the not-so-monstrous creepies that crawl in the night.

One of the first things to be aware of is the threat of malaria from infected mosquito bites but adequate preparation through starting on a course of medication before, during and after travel should suffice

Mosquitoes – unfortunately many safari parks are in malaria areas. Malarone, antibiotic doxycycline, chloroquine and mefloquine are the four most common medications prescribed against malaria. Chatting to your doctor beforehand will ensure that you get the right medication for both your family and the area to where you are travelling. To be extra safe, bring along  mozzie-repellent shampoos, soaps, lotions and sprays, especially for the kids.

Mosquito bite treatment and natural repellants in addition to medication include Brewer’s Yeast and garlic (the mosquito doesn’t like the smell apparently!) and anti itch lotion with aloe ver

It is also a good idea to invest in a mosquito net to ensure a restful night’s sleep, free from pesky mosquito and other insect bites

Snakes – generally shy creatures, it is unlikely that you will encounter a snake in the built up areas of your safari camp. If you do meet with one, back away quickly and quietly. Bites are usually more painful than fatal, but seek medical attention from a camp medic immediately, just to be safe.

A good idea would be to wear leather boots that go up to the knee… very difficult for a snake to bite through if you stood on one accidentally and caused it to react

Creepies – most game lodges supply nets and window coverings to keep the crawlies at bay, but it is still a good idea to check your shoes before squishing a sleeping scorpion. When going for bush walks, wear long trousers, boots and hiking socks to prevent picking up any hitchhikers.

Ticks – these icky little creatures are an unfortunate side-effect of being in the bush. All conditions that develop from a tick bite are treatable, but it is important to remove the offending bug as soon as possible. Conflicting techniques exist on how to remove a tick, but it is generally considered ill-advised to yank it, suffocate it, or drown it as the head buries itself even further. Rather use tweezers, grasp it at the head, right against your skin and pull straight up to remove the tick in its entirety.

Have you ‘ticked’ that one off the list?

Safety on a game drive

It is very easy to think that just because you are in a Land Rover with a guide and a gun, you are completely safe. Most game drives are relatively risk-free, but only as long as you do your bit and follow the rules.

Listen to your guide – guides are experienced in animal behaviour and will always have a good reason for asking you to do, or not do, something. Asking you to keep quiet could be to prevent an already agitated animal from charging, or disappearing and ruining your photos. Anything as quiet as the click of a camera could set an animal off, so listen if your guide asks you to hold off on a picture.

Keep your hands to yourself – Game drives traverse some pretty wild terrain and you just never know when a branch or a particularly spiky bush could suddenly appear. Keeping your hands and arms inside the vehicle ensures that you don’t get any nasty scratches. This also means that you should you be lucky enough to get close to an animal, you shouldn’t lean out and touch it. Wild animals could react viciously and injure you. Remember, if these animals become too used to humans it will be to their detriment if they later have the confidence to approach a hunter, farmer or built up area.

Stay sitting – any sudden movement could scare an animal, ruining your picture or even prompting an attack. Animals are used to the shape and size of safari game drive vehicles and standing could alter this shape and cause panic.

Safety on a self-drive safari

Common sense should ensure your safety on a self-drive exploration of a game reserve as most of the same rules apply as when you are on the road.

Stay inside the car - You wouldn’t hang out a window while driving in the city? Well, don’t do it while on safari. Keep all your body parts inside the car and never, ever, ever get out the vehicle at any time. If you get a flat tyre, call for help or flag down another car to get help for you. Even though the coast may seem to be clear, bending to change a tyre leaves you vulnerable to attack.

Keep to the speed limits – There are speed limits in any game park – obey them for your safety and the animals.

Don’t feed the animals – You should also not throw rubbish out your windows. Any left over food will naturally attract animals and can have detrimental effects on the environment. Teaching animals to rely on humans for food can turn them into scavengers that can’t fend for themselves and introduces foreign substances into their environment which all contribute to a negative shift in the eco-system.

Don’t be tempted to rev or hoot or flash your lights in an attempt to try and get the animal to do something more interesting. More interesting could end up in your car being charged. If an animal shows any sign of getting agitated, slowly start your car and move off. These signs could include a prolonged stare-off, erratic ear movement, pacing or even a mock charge.

Safety on a game walk or at a lookout point

There are designated places where you can walk in a game reserve or get out your car, but follow these guidelines:

No swimming – it gets hot out there, but a quick dip is not the answer. No matter how inviting the water, it could hide crocs and hippos – and they don’t like to share their pools. The bilharzias parasite is also present in some rivers and can cause bleeding and ulceration of the intestine and bladder.

No feeding the animals – A change in feeding patterns could mean that some animals do not migrate as they would normally do at a certain time of year, adversely affecting food supplies. Different animals that are taught to scavenge can also fight over one food supply that they would not normally share, resulting in injuries and harmful inter-species interactions. Most importantly, wild animals have specialised diets and you have no idea what effect a chocolate bar could have on their bodies.

No touching – do not approach an animal, touch it or call it – the response will not be one that you anticipated.

Do not stray – stay on the path, in the designated watch area or with your guide. Besides getting lost, you may trample endangered plant species or contribute to erosion.

About the author: GoTravel24.com is South Africa’s leading travel website. With information covering every aspect of travel, from honeymoon tips to upcoming events and affordable packages, GoTravel24 is really your one-stop travel shop.

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A Kenya Safari Holiday .

You need to sleep under treated mosquito netting, and the doors and windows should be screened against mosquitos. If you are lucky enough to have a fan or even airconditioning then even better, but just remember malaria prophylaxis 

Masai Mara Safari

And, we had a steward who made up our room during the day, and then when we were on our evening safari, would fix up our tent for the evening. Close all the curtains, take our mosquito nets down, switch the day bedlinens 

Close encounters of the Creature Kind

Ah but our foray with biting insects had only just begun: in the Tanzanian post-rainy-season tropics we entered the land of the Mosquito. The nightly routine, consisted of returning to base before dusk to cover up and apply vast quantities of DEET to any exposed skin before going anywhere. … Instead of reducing my terror of catching the disease (we’d met someone on Safari who’d had it on Malarone, the extremely expensive new drug I was on for extra protection in Africa

USB Mosquito Stick Keeps You Malaria-Free On A Laptop Safari

Using an ultrasonic force field, this USB stick vows to protect you from mosquitoes during all those times when you find yourself using a laptop

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Mosquitoes are quite an open and hardy adversary, having been around for just a few million years and having evolved to survive

Read on to know more about mosquito bites, home remedies for a bite and the diseases that spread through a bite…

Mosquitoes belong to the family of Culicidae. They have a pair of wings that are scaled, a pair of halteres, a very slender body and long legs. It is the female of most mosquito species that sucks blood from other animals and is the most deadly disease vector known to man.  Diseases spread by mosquitoes have been responsible for killing millions of people for thousands of years and continue to do so even today.

Mosquitoes Bites

The mosquitoes have been around for more than 30 million years and over the period of time they have honed their skills and have developed a number of sensors to track their prey. They are equipped with chemical sensors that can detect carbon dioxide and lactic acid at distances as far as 100 feet. Mammals and other living organisms produce these gases as part of normal breathing. Chemicals in the sweat too attract the mosquitoes. This is the reason that people who sweat less get bitten less by mosquitoes. Mosquitoes also have visual sensors and if they can spot a moving organism, they take their chances and zero in on the prey. Lastly, mosquitoes also have heat sensors which can help then sense a warm blooded mammal close by.

The female mosquito lands on the skin and inserts its proboscis into the skin. A proboscis is very sharp and extremely thin. This is the reason as why one does not normally feel it going in. The saliva of the female mosquito contains proteins in the form of anticoagulants that prevent the blood of the victim from clotting. With the help of the proboscis, the mosquito sucks in about 5 micro-liters of blood into its abdomen.

After the bite, some saliva of the mosquito remains on the wound. The proteins present in the saliva evoke an immune response in the body. The area that is bitten swells up and is called the wheal. The itch is the response that is provoked by the saliva. After some time, the swelling goes away but the bitten area will continue to itch until the immune cells of the body break down the saliva proteins.

Treating Mosquito Bites

Defense is the best from of treatment here. Take adequate precautions to ensure that you are not bitten by a mosquito. But if you have been bitten, then here are some home remedies that you can use to reduce the swelling and the itch:

• Wash the infected area with soap and water immediately after you have been bitten. Wipe the site clean and try to keep it dry until the irritation reduces. Remember not to scrub the skin. Soak the area and then pat dry it.
• Avoid scratching the bitten area. A mosquito bite normally heals in a couple of days but continuous scratching can delay the healing process.
• Make a sticky paste with baking soda and water and apply it over the bitten area.
• Apply an ice pack wrapped in a piece of cloth over the bitten area. This provides instant relief.
• Using calamine lotion or a tropical anesthetic that contains pramoxine helps relieve both the pain and itch.
• Apply Aloe Vera gel over the area that has been bitten by the mosquito. Aloe Vera also forms a protective layer which prevents the spread of infection.
• A very commonly used home remedy is to rub soap directly on the bite.

Diseases Spread by Mosquito Bites

Mosquitoes are the deadliest vector known to man and spread bacterial as well as viral diseases. Some of the most common diseases spread by a mosquito bite are:

• Malaria: is caused by a parasite that is spread by the Anopheles mosquito. The symptoms include fever, chills, headache and general malaise. Malaria is a fatal disease but can be treated with anti-malarial drugs.
• Yellow Fever: is spread by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito. The symptoms are similar to malaria and also include jaundice, nausea and vomiting. There is no treatment for yellow fever and only the symptoms can be treated. It is controlled by vaccination and mosquito control.
• Encephalitis: is caused by a virus that is spread by the Aedes mosquito. The symptoms include high fever, headache, confusion, stiff neck and sleepiness.
• Dengue Fever: is caused by a parasite that is spread by the Aedes Aegypti
• mosquito in the tropical region and by the Asian tiger in Asiatic regions. This disease produces a range of illness varying from viral flu to hemorrhagic fever.

By Ranjan Shandilya

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Conventional medicines find Malaria difficult to treat as the parasites responsible become more resistant

About two decades ago it was thought that malaria had been eradicated from India. However, recently, there has been a resurgence of this disease.

Malaria spreads through a mosquito bite (female anopheles) and the common causative organisms in India is plasmodium vivax and p falciparum (malaria parasite). Malaria caused by this parasite does not always cause any permanent damage. It is characterized by fever every third day, followed by rigor or shivering and accompanied by headache and muscle pain. In some cases, there may be enlargement of the liver and spleen. The final diagnosis can be made by examining the blood for the presence of the parasite. Lately a resistant strain of plasmodium vivax and p falciparum has erupted in some areas of India. This has made the treatment more difficult since it is resistant to the usual anti-malarial drugs.

How Does the Disease Progress? The malarial parasite gets injected into the bloodstream by the bite of the female anopheles mosquito and reaches the liver where it multiplies. The baby parasites are released from the liver into the bloodstream, where they enter the red blood cells (RBCs) or return to the liver. Those which enter the RBCs, grow and further multiply. This leads to distension and bursting of RBCs and releasing the toxic metabolites of these multiplied parasites, resulting in rigour and fever. The released parasite may re-enter into other RBCs to repeat the cycle of growth and multliplication, causing another attack of rigonr and fever. This new cycle in RBCs takes about 48 hours and account for the occurrence of fever and rigour every third day. Those who enter the liver may be responsible for continuance of the disease; it takes about two weeks’ time to complete the multiplication cycle. The parasites can be attacked in the RBCs or in the liver.

Drugs that are generally used for malaria

Chloroquine

This is the drug of choice for benign tertian malaria which is usually caused by plasmodium vivax. The oral dose is 600 mg twice of chloroquine (base), followed after 6 hours by 300 mg, then 150mg twise daily, for the next two days. The other drug of this group is amodiaquine. However, some stains of P. falciparum are resistant to chloroquine. In such a situation, quinine is given intravenously. Chloroquine may cause nausea, vomiting and stomach pain. It can be given during pregnancy.

Mefloquine

It is used for treating an acute attack and curing malaria due to resistant strains of parasites. It should be kept reserved for only these patients of malaria, since its misuse may result in the development of mefloquine-resistant strains of the parasites. It is taken in a single dose of 1.5g.

Adverse Effects: Adverse effects of mefloquine are seen in about 1 % patients. These includes irritation in the stomach, fatigue, neurological symptoms in the form of headache, dizziness, visual disturbances, vertigo, tinnitus, insomnia, restlessness, anxiety psychosis, or seizures. It can produce heart-rate irregularities when given along with digoxin, anti-depressants and propranolol.

By: Franchis

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AdvCare is one of the leading Canada drug store. First established in January 2000, its mission is to become the number one site for OTC drugs canada and generic prescription drugs searches.

Global Fund uncovers flaws in malaria drug management

Drugs in storage: A routine audit by the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has found that almost US$1 million worth of anti-malaria drugs are missing or have expired in Tanzania’s medical warehouses 

Malaria parasites ‘resist drugs’

International scientists say they have found the first evidence of resistance to the world’s most effective drug for treating malaria.

Drug-Resistant Malaria in Cambodia Raises Fears

Health & Medicine | Malaria in Cambodia is becoming increasingly resistant to one of strongest anti-malarial treatment available, according to a study published in the New England.  

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Malaria is very common throughout the world. In the United States, the main risk is to persons traveling to tropical and subtropical countries where malaria is a problem.

There are four different types of malaria caused by four related parasites.

The most deadly type occurs in Africa south of the Sahara Desert. The symptoms characteristic of malaria include fever, chills, muscle aches, and headache. Cycles of chills, fever, and sweating that recur every 1, 2 or 3 days are typical.

There can sometimes be vomiting, diarrhoea, coughing and yellowing (jaundice) of the skin and whites of the eyes.

The treatment for malaria depends upon the geographic area where a person has been infected with the disease. Different areas of the world have malaria types that are resistant to certain medications.

Malaria is a disease which can be transmitted to people of all ages. It is caused by parasites of the species Plasmodium that are spread from person to person through the bites of infected mosquitoes. Malaria is a parasitic disease that involves infection of the red blood cells. Of the four types of malaria, the most serious type is falciparum malaria, which can be life-threatening. The other three types of malaria (vivax, malariae, and ovale) are generally less serious and are not life-threatening. The scientific name of the particular type of mosquito is Anopheles. An infected Anopheles mosquito bites a person and injects the malaria parasites into the blood. The malaria parasites then travel through the bloodstream to the liver and eventually infect the red blood cells.

Causes of Malaria

1. Malaria is usually caused by a mosquito bite and the parasite microbe is passed from the mosquito to the blood through a sharp hypoderme needle like sting. Risk factors include traveling in areas in which such mosquitoes are found or, rarely, being bitten by a mosquito that has previously fed on an “imported” case of malaria (such that the case can occur in an area of the world where malaria is not endemic).

2. Transmitted by transfusion of infected blood.

Symptoms of Malaria

1. Sequential chills, fever, and sweating.

2. Jaundice.

3. Stools, bloody.

4. muscle pain.

5. Anemia.

6. Headache.

7. Nausea and vomiting.

Treatment of Malaria

Prevention of malaria what is practiced in epidemic areas is by spraying insecticides like DDT. Many new drugs are available for malaria, however most of the drugs are derived from Quinine derivatives. Malaria often requires treatment with medicine (antimalarial medications). Most of the time antimalarial medications effectively treat the infection; however, some malaria parasites may survive because they are in the liver or are resistant to the medication.

By: Juliet Cohen Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Juliet Cohen writes health articles for health care clinic. She also writes articles for women health.

Malaria No More

I headed down to LA Live on Friday night for a very important night celebrating and spreading the word for the cause Malaria No More. 

The Ultimate Source of Malaria Is Found in Chimps

Health & Medicine | Researchers have determined how malaria first came to afflict humanity, and have laid the blame on our closest relative, the chimpanzee. 

Barca Promotes Fight Against Malaria

Barcelona uses its high profile to raise awareness and money for the fight against malaria in Africa.  

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The Bald Eagle was nearly extinct in the lower 48 U.S. states by the middle of the 20th century, pushed to the brink by its sensitivity to DDT.

Dear EarthTalk: I read a disturbing report recently that the long-banned pesticide, DDT, was being used in Mozambique to combat malaria.  Malaria is a killer , but isn’t a return to DDT even scarier?
– Graeme Campbell, South Africa

Much of the developed world banned the use of DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) within about 10 years of the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson’s book, “Silent Spring.”

Carson’s book, which is credited by many as having spurred the creation of the modern environmental movement.

She documented the ecosystem damage caused by DDT crop spraying throughout the United States and linked the pesticide’s use to the disappearance of songbirds and raptors.

Enlarge Image EARTH TALK

From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Health officials at the time also linked DDT exposure to nerve damage in humans, and blamed DDT for causing cancer in people who had applied it recklessly. Today, because of widespread indiscriminate use up through the 1960s, most people have traces of DDT in their bodies. DDT has since become increasingly associated with childhood developmental problems, according to the organization, Beyond Pesticides (BP).

Today, two dozen countries–including Mozambique and nine other African nations–permit the use of small amounts of DDT for controlling specific insect-borne diseases, including malaria . Malaria kills one million people, including 800,000 African children, every year. Dr. Arata Kochi, leader of the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) global malaria program, strongly advocates using DDT to fight malaria, claiming that it poses little or no health risk when sprayed in small amounts on the inner walls of people’s homes.

“Indoor residual spraying is useful to quickly reduce the number of infections caused by malaria-carrying mosquitoes…and presents no health risk when used properly,” agrees Anarfi Asamoa-Baah, WHO’s assistant director-general for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Asamoa-Baah insists that DDT’s public health benefits for mosquito bite treatment and prevention far outweigh its risks.

Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides, disagrees and advocates for techniques that do not rely on pesticides like DDT. “The international community has a social responsibility to reject the use of this chemical and to practice sound and safe pest management practices,” he says. Feldman cites a recent study showing South African women living in DDT-treated dwellings to have 77 times the internationally accepted limit of the chemical in their breast milk. Researchers postulate that large amounts of DDT may have contaminated drinking water, exposing entire villages. “This highlights why no society can be unconcerned with DDT’s impact” on health and the worldwide ecosystem, Feldman says.

Feldman is calling for alternative strategies for disease control, including addressing the conditions of poverty that lead to mosquito breeding. We should “no longer treat poverty and development with poisonous band-aids, but join together to address the root causes of insect-borne disease, because the chemical-dependent alternatives are ultimately deadly for everyone,” says Feldman.

CONTACTS Beyond Pesticides, www.beyondpesticides.org; World Health Organization Malaria Information, www.who.int/topics/malaria/en/

GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/

or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com.

DDT Spray Does Uganda Need It?

“Food products originating from Uganda would have to be tested and if levels of DDT exceed the MRL, they would be denied entry into the EU,” she said. Aryada said the DDT debate should be less driven by concerns of the EU

The Debate Over DDT And Malaria Continues

The debate over using DDT to control Malaria has continued since the insecticide was banned in the USA in Dec. 1972. However, the 2006 controversial decision of WHO to actively support the use of DDT in Malaria control stirred a heated discussion

Bill Gates Demonstrates Why We Should Make DDT Legal Again In The US

I suspect much of the debate boils down to the insoluble difference between those who value human life above insects and those who do not. I realize that insects outmass humanity, outmass mammalia, and outmass vertebrates on Earth. 

The DDT Debate: To Spray Or Not To Spray?

Collins Vumiria Kakaire’s blog – It all started with a severe headache – got me thinking about malaria, about DDT, and about the potential for conflict between environmental concerns and health. Uganda is rightly worried 

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Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite, Plasmodium, which infects red blood cells. Infected mosquitoes spread it.

The mosquito infects you through bites so prevention is important

Mosquito Bite treatment

People with malaria frequently experience fever, chills, and flu-like disease. Malaria is a main cause of death worldwide.

Detailed Info on Malaria

Approximately 300 million people worldwide are affected by malaria and between 1 and 1.5 million people die from it every year, but it is almost wiped out in the United States. The disease is frequently a problem in developing countries with warm climates. If you travel to these countries, you are at risk. People get malaria by being bitten by an infective female Anopheles mosquito. Only Anopheles mosquitoes can spread malaria and they must have been contaminated through an earlier blood meal taken on a contaminated being. When a mosquito bites an infected person, a little amount of blood is taken in which contains microscopic malaria parasites. About 1 week later, when the mosquito takes its next blood meal, these parasites mix with the mosquito’s saliva and are injected into the person being bitten. Because the malaria parasite is found in red blood cells of an infected person, malaria can also be transmitted through blood transfusion, organ transplant, or the shared employ of needles or syringes contaminated with blood.

Symptoms of malaria comprise fever, headache, and vomiting. Malaria may reason anemia and jaundice (fair coloring of the skin and eyes) because of the loss of red blood cells. Malaria is not extending from person to person like a cold or the flu, and it cannot be sexually transmitted. You cannot get malaria from casual contact with malaria-infected people, such as sitting next to someone who has malaria. Treatment of malaria involves supportive measures as well as exact anti malarial drugs. Anti-malarial drugs can be prescribed to people traveling to areas where malaria is prevalent.

The types of anti-malarial medications prescribed will rely on the drug-resistance patterns in the areas to be visited. Chloroquine is an often used anti-malarial medication, but quinidine or quinine, or the amalgamation of pyrimethamine and sulfadoxine, are given for chloroquine-resistant infections.

People on anti-malarial medications may still become infected. Prevention is better than cure. Avoid mosquito bites by wearing protective clothing over the arms and legs and using screens on windows. Use of mosquito nets and insect repellents can decrease the chance of getting infected.

By: Juliet Cohen

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com   Juliet Cohen writes articles for beauty blog. She also writes articles for new hairstyles and hairstyles blog.

Tamiflu stockpiles vary widely throughout world

“And you can confuse the symptoms with malaria, so that’s very problematic.” Garman said there is a strong correlation between a country’s antiviral stocks and its level of preparedness for dealing with a possible pandemic

Pro Health Article – Malaria Microchip

Fever, headache, and vomiting are the symptoms of malaria and they normally appear between 10 and 15 days after the mosquito bite. If not treated immediately and rightly, Malaria can be life threatening. 

World Malaria Day

While there is no vaccine for malaria, there are antimalaria medications available that can reduce the risk of developing symptoms of the disease. These medications will not provide 100 per cent protection against the disease.

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Aside from being pesky creatures ..  I just got bit on the forehead .. mosquitoes tend to carry various diseases that are unwelcome at best. Most of use are familiar with West Nile virus, the most recently reported mosquito carrying disease.

There are numerous other diseases that mosquitoes carry however, which we’ll cover in greater detail below.

Dengue Fever

Dengue fever actually comes from four different viruses. Typically Aedes mosquitos carry this form of infection. With Dengue fever, a vicious cycle occurs whenever a mosquito bites an infected person, then becomes infected, and bites more people. Dengue fever is typically characterized by symptoms like severe headaches, fever, nausea and vomiting and pains in the joints or bones. Some may mistake Dengue fever for a bad case of the flu. The treatment similarly is lots of rest and fluids. In some cases your doctor may prescribe drugs to bring your fever down. Usually patients recover within two weeks.

Malaria

Malaria is a well known mosquito born illness. Symptoms include fever, chills, muscle aches, fatigue, nausea and vomiting. Patients with malaria may also mistake their symptoms for flu symptoms. Unfortunately if not treated, malaria can lead to other illnesses including anemia and jaundice. Once bitten it may take several weeks before a patient begins exhibiting symptoms, thus this is one mosquito born illness that is difficult to diagnose.

Malaria is most often associated with traveling to foreign countries with large populations of Aedes mosquitoes. Fortunately there are many treatment choices for patients with malaria. There are also preventive treatments a patient can take. These include:

Chloroquine – Travelers should consider taking this pill starting two weeks prior to travel and for four weeks after travel if going to malaria infested areas.

Doxycycline – This treatment starts two days before departure and may be continued for up to 4 weeks upon return home.

Unfortunately malaria is a very severe and insidious disease. Even after recovering some patients may find their symptoms return several months or years after treatment.

Viral Encephalitis

Viral encephalitis is a serious disease that results in brain inflammation. There are multiple causes, though many people with this disease get it from an insect bite (usually a mosquito bite). Fortunately most patients that contract viral encephalitis recover fine, but recovery often takes an extended period of time. There is some risk of permanent injury from the disease as well. In rare circumstances viral encephalitis can cause death.

West Nile encephalitis is just one form of viral encephalitis. It is more common in areas like the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

West Nile Virus

West Nile Virus has recently invaded the shores of the United States. The symptoms are also flu-like and may include muscle and joint aches and pains, headaches, rashes and fevers. At this time there is no cure for West Nile disease, though patients usually recover in one to several weeks. Some people are not affected as badly as others. West Nile is particularly risky for those with compromised immune symptoms. Severe reactions to the disease may include paralysis and encephalitis.

Protecting Yourself From Mosquito Born Diseases

While most of this information sounds pretty terrible (that’s because it is) the good news is you can largely protect yourself from mosquito bites. While you may not be able to prevent every bite, you can reduce the risk for contracting a mosquito born illness.

Common preventive measures include:

Using chemical repellants or insecticides to keep mosquitoes in your yard at bay.

Use of a mosquito repellant containing DEET. There are family formulas that contain less DEET that are safe to use on young children.

Wearing long pants and sleeves when out in mosquito infested areas. Mosquitoes are also more common at dusk, thus it is a good idea to wear long sleeved items and spray your clothes when out in this environment.

Use of citronella candles and other natural insect repellants.

Keep grass trimmed short to deter mosquitoes.

Avoid allowing any water to stand for more than a day in your yard or around your house, as mosquitoes tend to breed in standing water.

You’ll probably find a combination of these strategies works best to keep mosquitoes from harming you and your family.

Mosquitoes: Their Habitat And Diseases

Interesting facts on mosquitoes, the west nile mosquito, dengue fever and malaria and how to prevent mosquito bites. 

Malaria Patterns May Be Altered By Climate Change

Temperature is an important factor in the spread of malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases, but researchers who look at average monthly or annual temperatures are not seeing the whole picture. Global climate change will affect daily … In the developed world, the key to eradicating malaria, which once existed in parts of the U.S. and Europe, was an infrastructure that included good healthcare, mosquito control and habitat management. 

Predicting the future spread

As global warming raises concerns about potential spread of infectious diseases, a team of researchers has demonstrated a way to predict the expanding range of human disease vectors in a changing world. … Porter and his colleagues, led by Michael Kearney at the University of Melbourne, used software models to predict future mosquito habitat. Called Niche Mapper, the models use basic characteristics of an animal’s body, metabolic needs and behaviours to determine

Predicting the future spread of infectious disease

Porter and his colleagues, led by Michael Kearney at the University of Melbourne, used software models to predict future mosquito habitat.

Climate change may alter malaria patterns

Temperature is an important factor in the spread of malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases, but researchers who look at average monthly or annual temperatures are not seeing the whole picture. … In the developed world, the key to eradicating malaria, which once existed in parts of the U.S. and Europe, was an infrastructure that included good healthcare, mosquito control and habitat management.

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