<story><title>Brazil declares emergency after 2,400 babies are born with brain damage</title><url>https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/12/23/brazil-declares-emergency-after-2400-babies-are-born-with-brain-damage-possibly-due-to-mosquito-borne-virus/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>danieltillett</author><text>The sooner we get serious and start to deal with mosquitos the better. We already know what needs to be done [1], now all we need to do is get on with. How many millions of people have to die before we solve the problem of mosquito borne disease once and for all. Are we really going to sit around for decades debating if we should use this technology or not?&lt;p&gt;Edit. For those who want to understand more about this gene driver approach (it is pretty complex and amazing genetics) this review is the best I have been able to find [2].&lt;p&gt;1. &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nature.com&amp;#x2F;nbt&amp;#x2F;journal&amp;#x2F;vaop&amp;#x2F;ncurrent&amp;#x2F;full&amp;#x2F;nbt.3439.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nature.com&amp;#x2F;nbt&amp;#x2F;journal&amp;#x2F;vaop&amp;#x2F;ncurrent&amp;#x2F;full&amp;#x2F;nbt.343...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;2. &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;longnow.org&amp;#x2F;revive&amp;#x2F;wp-content&amp;#x2F;uploads&amp;#x2F;2015&amp;#x2F;02&amp;#x2F;Alphey-AnnRevEnt-2014-genetic-control-of-mosquitoes-copy.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;longnow.org&amp;#x2F;revive&amp;#x2F;wp-content&amp;#x2F;uploads&amp;#x2F;2015&amp;#x2F;02&amp;#x2F;Alphey-...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>personlurking</author><text>This will be Brazil first (southern) summer having to deal with a triple epidemic (zika virus, dengue and chikungunya fever), all due to the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Translating from a December 11th BBC Brasil article [1]:&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Two promising biotech projects have been tested in Brazil over the past few years, however, the results still aren&amp;#x27;t being felt on a large scale. The first one, betting on an insect inoculation scheme with a bacteria (Wolbachia) that stops the transmition of tropical diseases, is still in test phase and its impact will take 3 to 5 years to be evaluated.&lt;p&gt;The strategy behind the second project aims for the extermination of the species in certain regions via the use of genetically-modified mosquitos. The technique is said to have been tested successfully, according to the company that makes the transgenic mosquito - but it caused an uproar in the city in Bahia that served as the test ground. Even so, a city in São Paulo adopted the program since April, with promising results.&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.bbc.com&amp;#x2F;portuguese&amp;#x2F;noticias&amp;#x2F;2015&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;151210_combate_aedes_aegypti_genetica_mw_rb&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.bbc.com&amp;#x2F;portuguese&amp;#x2F;noticias&amp;#x2F;2015&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;151210_combat...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>Brazil declares emergency after 2,400 babies are born with brain damage</title><url>https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/12/23/brazil-declares-emergency-after-2400-babies-are-born-with-brain-damage-possibly-due-to-mosquito-borne-virus/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>danieltillett</author><text>The sooner we get serious and start to deal with mosquitos the better. We already know what needs to be done [1], now all we need to do is get on with. How many millions of people have to die before we solve the problem of mosquito borne disease once and for all. Are we really going to sit around for decades debating if we should use this technology or not?&lt;p&gt;Edit. For those who want to understand more about this gene driver approach (it is pretty complex and amazing genetics) this review is the best I have been able to find [2].&lt;p&gt;1. &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nature.com&amp;#x2F;nbt&amp;#x2F;journal&amp;#x2F;vaop&amp;#x2F;ncurrent&amp;#x2F;full&amp;#x2F;nbt.3439.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nature.com&amp;#x2F;nbt&amp;#x2F;journal&amp;#x2F;vaop&amp;#x2F;ncurrent&amp;#x2F;full&amp;#x2F;nbt.343...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;2. &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;longnow.org&amp;#x2F;revive&amp;#x2F;wp-content&amp;#x2F;uploads&amp;#x2F;2015&amp;#x2F;02&amp;#x2F;Alphey-AnnRevEnt-2014-genetic-control-of-mosquitoes-copy.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;longnow.org&amp;#x2F;revive&amp;#x2F;wp-content&amp;#x2F;uploads&amp;#x2F;2015&amp;#x2F;02&amp;#x2F;Alphey-...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>arthur_debert</author><text>In Brazil&amp;#x27;s case, as least, it&amp;#x27;s simpler than that.&lt;p&gt;Mosquito eradication used to be done at the federal level, with military like organization. It kept things in control.&lt;p&gt;A few years ago it has been re-assigned to municipalities. Not only are local authorities less equipped to handle it, but mosquitoes do not conform to city boundaries. If one city is doing a good job but it&amp;#x27;s neighbor isn&amp;#x27;t you&amp;#x27;re screwed.&lt;p&gt;There&amp;#x27;s probably lots to be done through technical advances, but most of this could be avoided using common sense.</text></comment>