Avian Malaria Confirmed In Bird Species As Far North As Fairbanks - ADN

[hatrack]

A new study reports that a form of malaria, generally considered a tropical disease, is being contracted by birds as far north as Fairbanks. The report was published in the science journal PLOS ONE on Wednesday.

"It is predicted that malaria parasites will spread to both higher altitudes and latitudes with global warming," it says.

That may not be as alarming as it sounds. Avian malaria cannot be transmitted to people.

"While the parasites are related, they are not the same and it would be stretch to predict human malaria in the near future in Alaska," said Karsten Hueffer, a specialist in microbiology and infectious diseases with the Alaska Institutional Development Award Biomedical Excellence based at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

EDIT

http://www.adn.com/2012/09/22/2636142/researchers-find-malaria-turning.html

[lapfog_1]

1. Last Friday I had lunch with a guy from some sort

of Army Intelligence Agency... We were in DC... in late September

And he didn't want to sit outside because of the mosquitoes and the possibility of catching Malaria or Dengue Fever... things I hadn't heard of since my time in the Caribbean years ago.

[OnlinePoker]

2. Malaria in Washington is not surprising

It's endemic to the area and was only controled in the 30's and 40's through control measures such as heavy pesticide use and containment of standing water sources. Take those measures away and it has come back again. As for Dengue Fever, the CDC says the following:

Nearly all dengue cases reported in the 48 continental states were acquired elsewhere by travelers or immigrants. (Travel Associated Dengue Infections - United States, 2001- 2004 , Imported Dengue - United States, 1999 and 2000 ) Because contact between Aedes and people is infrequent in the continental U.S., these imported cases rarely result in secondary transmission.

http://www.cdc.gov/dengue/epidemiology/index.html