Another deadly health threat

Only weeks after West Africa was declared free of the terrible Ebola virus, another deadly threat has appeared in the form of the mosquito-borne Zika virus which if contracted by a pregnant woman can cause malformed brains in babies. First discovered in Uganda in 1947, the virus has spread eastwards via Southeast Asia and French Polynesia to South America where in Brazil thousands of mothers have given birth to babies with brains that are improperly formed. There is, of course, widespread alarm at this new condition for which there is currently no certain method of detection, let alone any effective treatment. The alarm is all the greater because the range of the Zika virus-bearing mosquito includes the eastern United States.  This makes it even more likely that massive resources will be deployed to understand this virus and to find a way to vaccinate against it, establish when it is present in pregnant women and, perhaps, find some method of reversing its baleful effects while the child is in the womb. This is not to say that the United States did not contribute to the battle against the Ebola contagion which, by the nature of its human transmission, was capable of spreading to all corners of the world. There is some evidence that Zika can also be passed on by intimate human contact but as with so much else about this dangerous virus, little is yet certain. The Aedes aegypti strain of mosquito is not believed to be present in the Kingdom. But this does not mean that our health authorities should not be on the highest alert. The vagaries of climate change mean that it is perfectly possible that completely new breeding grounds are being created. However, as with the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus which has been tackled here decisively, it is possible to take great comfort in the competence of those who manage health issues in Saudi Arabia. Equally, as with Ebola, it can be expected that the Saudi medical services will once again extend their help and advice to all countries, not least Brazil, with whom we enjoy close relations, to assist them in grappling with a virus that is inevitably causing general public alarm. There are, however, reservations over the way in which affected countries are trying to tackle the presence of this mosquito. The eradication campaign employs both the use of chemicals to kill the insects and the filling-in of swampy areas where the mosquitoes breed.  Two very valid warnings have been issued. The first is that the chemicals being used to destroy the mosquitoes are themselves dangerous to human health. When they have wiped out the insects, the chemical residues will stay in the water sources, representing another danger to human health. The second concern is more arguable. It is that the poisons used to eradicate the mosquitoes are also likely to kill other species. This will impact the feeding chain, depriving frogs and other animals of an essential food source. It is being said that the danger is compounded if  the actual habitats are destroyed. From a purely ecological point of view, this has to be right. But great cities like Rome would not exist today if the malarial marshes that once surrounded them had not been drained. People surely come first.