There are a lot of “tropical” diseases spreading pretty rapidly right now! Of course, they’re no longer tropical diseases, they’re just mosquito-borne diseases, so it’s time to mentally reframe our risk for them and prepare!
Do you remember when West Nile Virus was initially spreading? If you think back, how surprised would everyone have been to learn that it can now be found as far north as Canada? (Really surprised! Everyone wanted it be a risk for Not Them.).
But we’re smarter now! So it’s time to pay attention to the new mosquito borne threats: Dengue Fever, Chik-V, and Zika virus. While Dengue Fever and Chikungunya are both very painful, they have low-long term risk for most people (just not people with weakened immune systems—but since there’s no cure, just standard treatment for a viral infection, they’re not getting too many headlines! Although there is a potential new Dengue Fever vaccine).
What IS getting attention is the Zika virus, which is mostly in South America, and is already as far North as Puerto Rico. Like Dengue Fever and Chik-V, is a painful disease that progresses and then is over… BUT, it’s been strongly linked to microcephaly, meaning pregnant women who come down with Zika virus have been having babies with smaller than is healthy heads. In regions with widespread Zika virus, women are being asked to delay having children until Zika (really mosquitoes) are under control!
Remember, it’s summer in the Southern Hemisphere. So what does this mean for us when our warm months roll around?
Well, when Chik-V rolled into islands south of Florida, it probably took about a year and a half for cases to start popping up in the US (and not just travelers). With Zika, the concern with babies is striking a stronger response, and that will probably mean more work to decrease mosquito populations and prevent the spread of the disease, as well as researching Zika for the mechanism that causes the defect, as well as potential treatments and more. Fighting back mosquito growth (warm winter means more ticks and mosquitoes next summer!) also means we’ll slow not just Zika, but Chik-V and Dengue Fever, too, and they’re much closer to being an immediate problem for the entire US.
While the message about these viruses is to just ride it out, there’s more you can be doing.
Strengthen your immune system, for one. If it’s up to your immune system to fight it off, then you CAN do something. Rest when you start to feel ill, make sure you’ve always got enough nutrients coming in (a daily multivitamin is great for covering gaps, especially if you’re dieting), exercise as you’re able, all those basic things. Then beef things up with colloidal silver, especially before traveling where there have been outbreaks, like Hawaii.
And prepare for your local community to fight back against mosquitoes. While some take a targeted, modern approach, others will go quick cheap and easy, and spray the area with chemicals that are mostly, probably, maybe safe for humans, as far as we know (currently). Know what I mean? You might want to be ready to clear things out with a safe detox kit like our Zeolite—catch and remove the big particles! Then make sure you’re replacing the good stuff with our Humic and Fulvic minerals (taken from rich, ancient soil).
Thoughts? We’d love to hear them! Share them in the comments.
