New Skeeter Scare?

It's summertime, and that means it's time to revisit a core issue of mine: Mosquito-borne disease. As you may know, I'm a big fan of the banned DDT insecticide for controlling those pesky - and sometimes deadly - little buzzers. From my time in Africa, I can honestly say that the chemical (which is shown to be virtually harmless, not that you'd ever hear that on the news) would have saved millions from death at the hands of malaria. But I digress…

In the state of Massachusetts, not only do they have seasonal cases of West Nile virus like every other state - but lately, a disconcertingly high number of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) cases. In fact, last year the Bay State declared a public heath emergency over the mosquito-carried disease, after 3 solid years of increasing incidence.

The Triple-E virus can cause inflammation of the brain, and if the numbers I read in the Boston Herald are right, is far deadlier per infection than West Nile. In the last 3 years, there have been 13 EEE infections resulting in 6 deaths, with only 9 West Nile infections resulting in 2 deaths.

Massachusetts health officials are currently spraying low-lying and wet areas (mosquito breeding grounds) with an anemic EPA-approved insecticide called Sumithrin. They hope to reduce mosquito numbers by 50%…

But they'd get damn near all of 'em if they'd just break out the Big Gun: DDT.