Mitchel:

If Blogger "thinks" there are too many characters in your comment you can break your comment in two part.  I have not control over how Blogger counts characters.  

Also, and this is just a friendly suggestion, you can be more effective in airing your point of view if you stick with the central issue.  I think the central issue in your comment is that the link between the Zika virus and Zika illness and the link between Zika and microcephaly are not established and that the Cuban government would do better to use biological control of the vector rather than chemical controls.  These points are well worth consideration and I am afraid they may get lost when you bring in other issues including biological aggression by the U.S. against Cuba which Cubans themselves have recounted to me.

Kamran


On Tue, Feb 23, 2016 at 11:22 AM, Mitchel Cohen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
At 01:23 PM 2/23/2016, you wrote:
FYI:Â http://forhumanliberation.blogspot.com/2016/02/2219-raul-castro-appeal-to-our-people.html


Hi,
I tried to leave this comment on your blog, but it wouldn't accept it, saying it was too many characters. (According to my character count, it's under .... )

While improved sanitation, clean water, and removal of puddles (which serve as mosquito breeding sites) are always welcome, fumigation with dangerous pesticides is much more dangerous than the disease.

It is a mistake to combine the Zika virus with dengue fever. There has been no connection established between Zika and microcephaly. In the U.S. there are around 25,000 cases of microcephaly each year. NONE have tested positive for Zika virus. And in Colombia, there are many cases of Zika, but few cases of microcephaly.

So, the microcephaly outburst in Brazil is most likely caused by <i>the pesticides</i> being applied, the new TDaP vaccine mandated (unlike elsewhere) for pregnant women, or the release of genetically engineered mosquitoes -- NOT by a the Zika virus.

On the other hand, in 1981, an epidemic of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) did sweep across the island of Cuba. Transmitted by blood-eating insects, usually mosquitos, the disease produces severe flu-like symptoms and incapacitating bone pain. Between May and October 1981, over 300,000 cases were reported in Cuba with 158 fatalities, 101 of which were children under 15.

Declassified documents reveal that the US Army set loose swarms of <b>specially bred <i>Aedes aegypti</i>mosquitos</b> in Georgia and Florida in 1956 and 1958.
 
In 1967 <i>Science</i> magazine reported that at the US government center in Fort Detrick, Maryland, dengue fever was among those "diseases that are at least the objects of considerable research and that appear to be among those regarded as potential BW [biological warfare] agents." (<i>Science<i> (American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC), January 13,1967, p.176)

On a clear day, October 21, 1996, a Cuban pilot flying over Matanzas province observed a plane releasing a mist of some substance about seven times. It turned out to be an American crop-duster plane operated by the US State Department, which had permission to fly over Cuba on a trip to Colombia via Grand Cayman Island. Responding to the Cuban pilot's report, the Cuban air controller asked the US pilot if he was having any problem. The answer was "no". <b>Two months later, Cuba observed the first signs of a plague of <i>Thrips palmi,</i> a plant-eating insect never before detected in Cuba. It severely damages practically all crops and is resistant to a number of pesticides.</b>

Cuba asked the US for clarification of the October 21 incident. Seven weeks passed before the US replied that the State Department pilot had emitted only smoke, in order to indicate his location to the Cuban pilot. (For further details of the State Department's side of the issue, see New York Times, May 7,1997, p.9) By this time, the <i>Thrips palmi</i> had spread rapidly, affecting corn, beans, squash, cucumbers and other crops.

In response to a query, the Federal Aviation Administration stated that emitting smoke to indicate location is "not an FAA practice" and that it knew of "no regulation calling for this practice".

In April 1997, Cuba presented a report to the United Nations which charged the US with "biological aggression" and provided a detailed description of the 1996 incident and the subsequent controversy. In August, signatories of the Biological Weapons Convention convened in Geneva to consider Cuba's charges and Washington's response. In December, the committee reported that due to the "technical complexity" of the matter, it had not proved possible to reach a definitive conclusion.

The way to deal with invasions of mosquitoes -- whether genetically engineered elements in a biowarfare destabilization effort or of a more natural kind -- is to use biological predators of those mosquitoes (dragonflies, bats, frogs, certain birds and fish), proper non-harmful larvaciding (and elimination of standing water), and individual organic mosquito repellents (catnip and many other natural plants) -- NOT by falling for the pharmaceutical and agricultural industry's propaganda.

Mitchel Cohen
No Spray Coalition against pesticides
http://www.NoSpray.org