Tom
Doug Henwood wrote:
> Guardian (London) - September 11, 1999
>
> TROPICAL DISEASES SPREADING NORTH
> Warning as mayor orders spraying of New York
>
> Paul Brown, Environment Correspondent
> Saturday September 11, 1999
>
> Leading experts on climate change warned last night that global
> warming is making cities in the northern hemisphere more vulnerable
> to outbreaks of potentially lethal strains of tropical diseases.
>
> The warning came as the mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani ordered
> the spraying of the entire city with insecticide from helicopters in
> an attempt to eradicate mosquitoes which are spreading the brain
> disease encephalitis. So far there have been three deaths and nine
> other confirmed cases. A further 60 suspected cases have been
> identified.
>
> Unstable weather in North America and Europe is allowing pests and
> diseases to migrate north, according to Paul R Epstein, an associate
> director of the Centre for Health and the Global Environment at
> Harvard medical school. "We must all prepare for such nasty
> surprises," he said.
>
> Doctors in southern England have already been warned by the
> department of health to look out for malaria cases caused by
> locally-bred mosquitoes.
>
> Dr Epstein said the extreme weather events - droughts followed by
> tropical downpours - suffered by New York this summer were providing
> ideal breeding conditions for mosquitoes, particularly those which
> carry tropical diseases, as there were few natural predators to feed
> on larvae.
>
> He said that New York had also suffered two cases of
> locally-transmitted malaria in the last few weeks - another sign that
> climate change was allowing the survival of tropical diseases in an
> area which had always been considered too cold.
>
> It is New York's first confirmed outbreak of St. Louis strain
> encephalitis, which is fatal in 10% of cases. Spraying is aimed at
> the stagnant pools where the larvae thrive and is likely to continue
> until frosts kill off the mosquitoes.
>
> "This is scaring the hell out of the people of New York," Dr Epstein
> said. "The psychological cost and the costs of spraying are probably
> greater than the direct medical bills, but they show the kind of
> costs associated with an unstable climate, and the extreme weather
> associated with it.
>
> "Washington has been suffering a severe drought and is now being hit
> by thunderstorms - it's the same pattern. Perhaps they will finally
> get the message that it is time to do something about climate change."
>
> The World Heath Organisation in Geneva has a unit which is monitoring
> the spread north of malaria and other tropical diseases.
>
> Dr David Viner, a senior scientist at the climatic research unit at
> the University of East Anglia has written a report on the expected
> return of malaria to Southern Spain. He said: "The malaria-carrying
> mosquitoes die off if it's too hot or it's too cold, so with climate
> change they are gradually moving north as temperatures warm up.
> Malaria is the biggest killer on the planet which is why everyone is
> so worried about it.
>
> "Just to give you some idea they are spending $100m [£61.6m] a year
> in Florida to try and eradicate malaria. It is only a matter of time
> before the climate envelope in which it and other tropical diseases
> survive moves northwards both in Europe and the US."
>
> He said that malaria had been prevalent in East Anglia during the
> middle ages when Britain was warmer and it could return. Department
> of environment scientists said last year that conditions in Britain
> were already suitable for malaria mosquitoes to survive.
>
> According to Dr Epstein, New York's warmer winters were already
> allowing some encephalitis-carrying mosquitoes to survive although
> the cold still killed off malaria mosquitoes.
>
> "In general, climate constrains the range of most infectious
> diseases, while weather affects the timing and intensity of
> outbreaks," he said.
>
> "Recent weather-related disasters like Hurricane Mitch have spawned
> clusters of water, rodent and mosquito-borne infections. They were
> spreading diseases further north than previous seen."
>
> The march north of the Saint Louis strain of encephalitis was
> recorded in predictions made by the UN's intergovernmental panel on
> climate change in 1998.
> Its report suggested that outbreaks along the east coast, south of
> New York, were associated with warm winters and hot dry summers.
>
> In the European chapter of the report, it predicted that warmer
> conditions for vector organisms - such as ticks, mosquitoes and sand
> flies - that spread warm climate diseases increase the potential for
> outbreaks in Europe.
>
> Increased tourism is also playing a part. About 2,000 cases of
> "airport" malaria - in which the disease is carried back to Britain
> by tourists - were diagnosed in England in 1990 and there are usually
> 10-12 fatalities each year.
>
> These cases could lead to local populations of mosquitoes becoming
> infected with the parasite. "It is important to strengthen current
> policies of surveillance," the report says.