Readers would be aware of the geographic spread of the Zika virus which causes birth defects in babies born to infected mothers. It is spread by a specific variety of mosquito that lives in warmer climates around the world. The insect has spread the virus from South America north to Florida, whereupon it is spreading to other parts of the USA. It is not expected to expand to Canada as the specific mosquito variety has not been found in this country – at least not yet. The main weapon against this disease scourge are insecticide chemicals, but therein lays the irony – one of the more effective insecticides that has been used in the past to kill mosquitos is banned from being used. More ironic is that the insecticide now being used is actually more dangerous than the one that was banned. Not surprisingly it all has to do with upsetting politically-correct environmental ideology.
First, some background to the war against disease-bearing mosquitos. It's been said that mosquito-borne diseases have killed more humans than any other cause, and they continue to do so to this day. Prior to the Zika outbreak some of the more dreaded diseases spread by mosquitos are West Nile disease, Malaria and Dengue fever. Those afflictions, Malaria in particular, have killed millions especially children. Few would know that Malaria once existed in the USA and even at times in southern Ontario less than a hundred years ago. The mosquito variety carrying Malaria was wiped out in Canada and the USA by the judicious use of the insecticide DDT, the same insecticide that was banned by the USA in 1970 and later by most western countries. The ban was the result of a book entitled "Silent Spring" written by Rachel Carson. That publication became the holy grail of the green movement and is worshipped as the founding source of modern environmentalism. In her book Carson claimed that DDT was on the verge of destroying the planet as we know it – the fact that almost all of her claims of doom were later proven wrong and misleading mattered not in the nefarious world of green ideology. No western government dares to mention DDT, fearing a backlash from the green lobby machine. What a sad situation that political-correctness once again trumps common sense and endangers the health of even the newborn – it's as if nothing is sacred anymore if it questions green self-righteousness.
Twenty years ago your writer wrote a column for the Calgary Herald on the dubious rationale of banning DDT and how its banishment caused millions to die from Malaria. The Herald editors of the day required me to prove my point with scientific evidence – which I provided in quantity. To the credit of the Herald they published that column on DDT because it was factual. My point is this - various jurisdictions in South America and the USA are now using powerful insecticides, mostly organophosphate-based, to kill Zika-bearing mosquitos and those insecticides are more dangerous to animal, plant and human health than was the banned DDT. Sure, health danger levels are dependent on dosage, but it would seem that using a less dangerous and proven insecticide would be more prudent. As one might suspect, few green lobby groups are demanding that governments stop spraying organophosphates to kill Zika-bearing insects, for fear the DDT alternative may be revived.
The resistance to using DDT to forestall a health crisis will be intense from all the usual suspects, and politicians will hide as long as possible to avoid dealing with the idea. Much will depend on how far the Zika virus will spread around the world. If North America and Europe become overwhelmed, some more drastic action will have to happen, however winter will push mosquito infestation back to tropical areas and the urgency will be abated. The common sense approach would be to engage in a robust mosquito spraying program in those southern areas using DDT before the disease gets a chance to expand next spring and summer. Sixty years ago Malaria was almost wiped out in most of the world using DDT, but it was banned, which subsequently saw Malaria return to many areas with the loss of millions of lives. Perhaps the use of a more dangerous insecticide will control the spread, but there should be a plan B. If nothing else it should expose the shameful consequences of banning DDT. I suggest there is a message in all this when it comes to eradicating Zika- bearing mosquitos.