Mosquitos

[Trev]

Now that DDT is no longer being used, or so I gather, it seems that we will be needing something else which is really effective against mosquitos and other blood-sucking insects. Anyone know of anything that works well?

The various "vector-born" (spread by blood-sucking insects) diseases seem to be increasing, both in number and in seriousness. It now seems that West Nile Virus (WNV) is causing Polio /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif in some people, which probably means that a new strain of WNV is being spread as a weapon.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.rense.com/general29/polio.htm>Polio and WNV</A>

And something I've always suspected is that HIV is probably vector-born also. To paraphrase Robert Strecker, M.D., if the mosquito has some wonderful means of filtering out the HIV virus from the blood it feeds on, why don't we study this mechanism and duplicate it? Then nobody would ever get HIV from a transfusion again. It would seem that the burden of proof is on those who claim that HIV is not vector-born. (The obvious test would be to let some mosquitos feed on HIV-infected blood, and then those who adamantly claim HIV is not vector-born could let these same mosquitos feed on them and we'd see if they got HIV. But they haven't done that experiment, have they?)

So, mosquitos and other blood-sucking insects are an increasing problem.. and I'm not quite sure what to do about it. Our property has ditches, pine trees, etc., and lots of mosquitos. Anybody got any ideas?

Bob

 

[hazmat]

Relocate to an underground cave. I hear that the mosquito magnets work well. For the $$$$ I'll stay inside at night.

 

[knucklehead]

Danged if we didn't accidentally find out, when we were kids, that a little oil on the water caused those poor mosquito hatchlings to suffocate. I always wondered of vegetable oil would achieve the same effect.

Personally, it's back to DEET for us, after a brief and disappointing fling with more environmentally friendly repellants.

 

[Thomas]

I've had pretty good luck w/Skin so Soft from Johnson&Johnson.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

at our house,cottage and my mothers house we've been using our hose end sprayer and a combo of lemon scented dish soap and lemon amonia. the lemon scent seams to keep them away for quite some time(citonella candles and the like) the soap also kills other nasties,amonia adds nitrogen to the lawn. at least for a few days or the first good rain. do a search on a gent named jerry baker he has a few good books and does quite a few pbs broadcastes on tv its all about lawn care and gardening. if you have small areas of stagnent water and the thought of a little polution doesn't bother you wd40 does choke the little buggers (or so i'm told)wink wink nugde nugde. but seriously look up jerry baker and use the soap around house,play and animal areas. and if its windy unless its on you nothing keeps them away

 

[gobbler]

I’ll second the use of ANY type of insect repellant. I got bit a about 3 weeks ago and last week had an episode of severe body aches, fever, and swollen lymph glands. I’m being tested for WNV right now.

I woke up Sunday before last with a stiff neck. No big deal, I’d been cutting firewood on Saturday and thought I must have tweaked something. Even though I took some Advil, the stiffness really never went away on Sunday. Got up to go to work on Monday, felt fine, not much stiffness. Then about 10am, my body was overcome with stiffness. Started in my neck, progressed down my back and into my hips. Also starting feeling warm. The stiffness was so bad that I decided to go home. Took some Advil, lied down and had the worst sweats I’ve ever had in my life. Got up about 2pm and took a shower and noticed the swollen lymph gland in my groin. Keep in mind that I never felt sick the entire time. That afternoon, I felt fine. No stiffness or fever, but about 9pm, the stiffness and fever returned. Pop some Advil, sweat it out.

Got up Tuesday and felt fine, wife drags me to Dr. Of course, they can’t nothing wrong. I explained how all this was happening. I kinda got that deer in the headlights look from the Dr. I even mentioned that I’d been bitten by a mosquito. Her response was, “Well we better check your blood count”, but never a mention about WNV. Blood work came back normal.

Two days later, I decide to go back, as I was still having the same symptoms. After rereading my chart, she says, “It says here you were bitten by a mosquito a couple of weeks ago, I think we should check for WVN”. That was last Thursday, and it takes 10 days to get results. Hope to know something by next week.

I feel fine now. I stopped having all the stiffness and fever on Saturday.

I found that the <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.cdc.gov/>Centers for Disease Control</A> website is very useful. I would recommend taking a look at it.

Between this and the shoulder problem, I’ve had a tough September.

Jim

 

[Trev]

Wow, Jim.. I hope those tests come back clean. It sounds to me like you're out of the woods, but I don't even play a doctor on TV.. so what do I know?

Please keep us posted on this!!

You know, when I die I want to get ahold of Noah, and ask him why, precisely, he felt it necessary to include mosquitos on the Ark! /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif

 

[mikim]

1. deep woods off -- lots of it - I spray some on myself before I dress then spray my clothes practically til they drip.
2. any kind of petro product in standing water (kerosene?)
3. Jerry Bakers recipes for insect control --- altho' I don't know how effective it is on skeeters
I haven't heard of any kind of mechanical device using elect, chem, smoke -- whatever, that actually works --- if they ever come up with one that does - it'll make a billionaire out of somebody.