West Nile Fever

We should not let idiots like New York's Green Party, which is against killing of mosquitos because it "disrupts the food chain", dictate our reaction to health threats. I have already written about how banning of DDT in developing countries has allowed malaria cases to increase to the point where about 1 million people are killed each year by malaria.

Here is the current situation. We have the Gulf Coast with standing water and mosquitos breeding at abnormally high rates at a time when the mosquito-borne viral infection known as West Nile Fever is gaining in both incidence and severity. Last year there were 2,500 serious cases and 100 deaths from West Nile. The virus reservoir is animals--mostly birds-- and there is a time lag between animals becoming infected, mosquitos conveying the virus to humans and the incubation time until serious infection is recognized. The virus has been found in birds in 44 states and Louisiana is 4th in the number of human infections. Conditions in New Orleans can reasonably lead to an increase in cases despite a warning by the CDC to avoid mosquito bites by wearing clothes which cover the skin, using insect repellent and removing standing water. Good luck. The CDC doesn't challenge the politically charged suggestion that insecticides could be used.
In 1972, on the basis of data on toxicity to fish and migrating birds, the EPA banned almost all uses of DDT. It is ironic, of course, that the substance banned largely because of its toxicity to birds is now unavailable to kill mosquitos bearing a virus which is killing birds by the millions. We should declare an exception to the ban on the use of DDT in the New Orleans area for mosquito control. There are no good alternatives since DDT is long acting and could well spare a lot of people in the New Orleans area a life-threatening and preventable disease.