The name is “Zika” and it's terrifying Americans. The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has confirmed that it is a ‘Virus from Hell'. Congress is scurrying for a $2 billion budget to combat this monster, but why, what is Zika and what does it do? Zika landed on American soil during the last few weeks. It travelled north from Brazil, where it was first discovered, to South and Central America, the Caribbean, and finally landed in America. Everybody wants to go to America, right. Once in America, you can become famous, and so it was with Zika. At first it was greeted mildly. The CDC listed its symptoms as just a fever, rash, joint pains, red eyes, disappearing within weeks. But there was more. After thorough research the CDC discovered severe and complex dangers especially to pregnant women. Zika is linked to a birth defect called ‘microcephaly', which causes small heads in newborns, as well as brain damage. Alarm bells started ringing. Pregnant women are in a state of panic. What causes this Zika that has the renowned American CDC running around in circles, releasing instructions to the public, requesting funds from Congress, preparing vaccines to combat the new virus? Well, it is none other than that pesky, persistent mosquito, with one more gift for the human race. Was it not just a decade or so ago that the greatest city in the world was gripped by mosquito fear when a mysterious outbreak of ‘encephalitis' devastated man and beast. It was in 1999 that the glamorous city of New York woke up to find the dead everywhere. And who was the killer? ‘Culex Pipens' — ever heard of him, her, it? Months of investigations revealed that the mystery behind this New York siege was the ‘West Nile virus' a brand new potentially fatal disease caused by none other than our dynamic, resourceful little insect. Again the mosquito-borne disease travelled all the way from Africa to land in New York City where it was identified and revealed to the world. Mosquitoes cause more human suffering than any other organism on our planet. Over one million people worldwide die from mosquito-borne diseases every year — and they are many! Malaria is the most ancient of these diseases, described by the Chinese in 2700 BC, and by the Sumerians since 1700 BC. The word “Malaria” is attributed to British art historian, Horace Walpole, in a letter from Italy in 1740. In Italian ‘mal' is bad, and ‘aria' is air… 'bad air'. At that time they thought it was carried by the wind from swamps and rivers. It was not until the advent of DDT, (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), in the 20th century that malaria was eradicated in the West. According to the World Health Organisation, (WHO), 700 million people get a mosquito-borne disease each year, resulting in more than one million deaths. Not bad for a little insect. Malaria is the most widespread killing 438,000 in 2014, 70 per cent are children under five. There are other diseases responsible for the other half million — Chikinangunya for example — ever heard of it? How about Dengue, Yellow Fever, Encephalitis, several strains of it, West Nile virus and now that scary-sounding Zika. How can you help but admire that teeny-weeny organism, which is one scary little beast, out to get the human race. It is the biggest killer on our planet. It only thrives through the ages, lashing and slashing, at mankind, century after century, defying all the science aimed at her…. for it is the female of the species that creates the havoc. It was not until 1820 when the new technology of the microscope helped reveal this silent killer. French scientist Charles Laveran was the first to see malaria parasites in human blood. In 1880 he drew blood from a soldier of the French Legion in Algeria. Under the microscope he saw “little moving animals”, a discovery that earned him a Nobel Prize in 1907. The discovery did not hinder the mosquito from roaming the globe to kill and destroy at will. In 1910 a drug was developed for prevention and treatment —“chloroquine”. In less than a century the resilient mosquito developed resistance to the drug and was wild and free again, unhampered by any earthly force. In his 2001 book MOSQUITO — a natural history of our most persistent and deadly foe.”, Andrew Spielman of Harvard University wrote: “ Darwin would have been amazed at the speed with which those mosquitoes that exploit the human environment, adapt and versify today.” With this new Zika strain causing panic in the US, not only do we ask, what would Darwin say but what would the late Spielman himself say. It baffles the human mind. Now that the warm season is here, they will be coming out in droves, ready to enjoy a human meal. There is much we do not know, but we know enough to take precautions. Screens on windows are imperative; also wearing long sleeves and pants limits the skin available for the predator. Insect repellent is effective, but it is best to cut outdoor activities and remain in air-conditioned interiors. It is but a small sacrifice. Mosquitoes kill a child every 30 seconds. Wherever there are humans, there are mosquitoes. They are found everywhere on the planet except Antarctica. Will science find a way to eliminate the diseases mosquitoes spread or will that tiny organism destroy us first. “Nature is reckless of the individual. When she has points to carry, she carries them.” Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
