Talk of DDT being used to kill Zika virus carrying mosquitoes.

[jillan]

Of course I heard about this on AJ. Heaven forbid any other news outlets would report news.
Googled it, and sure enough - it's being discussed everywhere.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/04/health/zika-virus-ddt-what-you-need-to-know/

Thoughts?

[HassleCat]

1. They use DDT differently now

They don't spray it all over the place. They paint it on the walls, where mosquitoes absorb it through their feet when they land.

[jwirr]

5. Interesting.

[MH1]

2. NPR did report it. I was wondering why I wasn't hearing more about it though.

My thoughts - as was mentioned on NPR - DDT has devastating environmental impacts. So you have a choice of solving Zika without it, or destroying biodiversity even more than what is already happening.

The fact that this is happening in a locale that follows such a strong anti-abortion religion is not going to be helpful in choosing a "least harm" set of policies.

[mike_c]

6. the enviromental impacts of DDT in the mid-1900s...

...were largely the result of misuse (and massive overuse) for decades. The WHO has long advocated expanding its use for disease vector control, something it is well suited for.

[jwirr]

3. I was waiting for that. People are scared of Zika and are

looking for an answer.

[mike_c]

4. used properly, DDT is a very effective vector control...

...with virtually no non-target toxicity and minimal environmental impact.

[Major Nikon]

7. It's also extremely cheap to produce

Which is good for developing nations

[alarimer]

8. I seriously hope they don't.

Talk about a horrible product.

Human beings cannot be trusted not to misuse products like these. It's what nearly killed off bald eagles and pelicans (among others) back in the day.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Depends

in very targeted ways (like using it in paint where mosquitos can absorb it) it is damn effective. In the kind of applications we saw in the past, not so much.

Zika (And dengue, yellow fever and Tsintinguya, all carried by Aedes mosquitoes) will require tight vector control; This ranges from yes GMO mosquitoes, to very targeted use of things like DDT likely, and screens and water and simple vector control techniques.

We know enough where I doubt we will see the wide spread abuse of DDT, or other newer chemicals.

[Blue_Tires]

10. This is an alternate but controversial solution:

http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/01/26/464464459/genetically-modified-mosquitoes-join-the-fight-to-stop-zika-virus

[pnwmom]

11. They shouldn't do that unless they rule out the possibility that those GMO mosquitoes,

which were released into the Zika region some time ago, haven't been contributing in some way to the problem.