Ask Dr. Bob
Saddle River Magazine, September 2023
It is very clear that the planet is very hot this summer. Whether this represents global warming from green house gases or part of the earth’s cycles of heat and cold as some have suggested, the heating of our planet has many effects.
What kinds of diseases might arise from the heating of the planet?
There are not going to be new diseases, but some of the old ones might surface in places where they are least expected. One clear example is malaria, which has reared its head in both Florida and Texas (July 2023). There are four kinds of malaria in the Americas and Plasmodium falciparum, and Plasmodium Vivax are the most common. This might be a bit technical for our readers, but it is worth knowing. Plasmodium falciparum is the deadliest of malarias and 77% of infections are due to this form of malaria.
When was the last case of malaria found in the USA?
The last case of malaria in the USA was in 2003. Eight cases of Plasmodium vivax malaria were found in Palm Beach County Florida. New cases are described in both Texas and Florida. These cases are extremely rare when acquired in the States.
What do you mean acquired in the States?
Usually there are thousands of cases of malaria (around 2000 annually) which come from travelers from other countries like Africa or Brazil. The cases that are exceedingly rare are those acquired here in the USA, meaning that no one got the disease from travel, but from a mosquito bite here in the USA.
Why would this happen?
Malaria is transmitted by mosquitos, and they must transmit the disease here in the USA. The mosquito called Anopheles are the vectors needed to spread the disease from one person to another. Anopheles are mosquitos found all over the country, but most are not infected with malaria. There are some mosquitos that have been found in Florida and Texas that carry the malaria parasite. They are very rare and of no cause for concern. Epidemiologists are trying to track the sources of the infected mosquitos at this writing.
Why did malaria disappear from the USA?
In 1949 millions of spray applications against the Anopheles mosquitoes, as well as drainage removal of mosquito breeding sites, resulted in almost total elimination of the vectors (the mosquitoes). Today we ask everyone to make sure that there is no stagnant water anywhere in old ponds, old tires, or pools lying in people’s yards. Our most immediate concerns are mosquito transmission of diseases like West Nile Virus and other mosquito borne diseases, not malaria.
What other diseases are possibly the result of earth’s warming?
The World Health Organization (WHO) warns of Dengue risk because of a warmer planet. The cases are now at historic highs. This is also a mosquito borne illness. Over 4.2 million cases were recorded in 2022.
As one of the world’s fastest spreading tropical diseases it is said to be a pandemic threat. The WHO says that half of the world’s population is at risk. In the Americas the disease is common to Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, and Peru.
Is it serious and how does it present?
Dengue is on every doctor’s watch list. Most cases have no symptoms unless you are infected multiple times. In the latter case it can be fatal, but that s less than 1% of all cases. It is quite serious in those with symptoms and called “break bone fever”. Most of the symptoms are fever and muscle pain of the severest nature. There is no cure for Dengue, only treatment of the symptoms.
So, what does warming of the planet have to do with it?
A warmer climate is thought to help the mosquitos multiply faster and enable the virus to multiply within their bodies. The shrinking world with flights from various countries moving people and goods are factors in the increase of this disease.
It is too soon to tell how the super heating of parts of the USA will affect mosquito breeding and the occurrence of disease. Most entomologists believe that temperatures of 110 degrees would roast mosquitos and stop them in their tracks, but these insects are resilient and find cool places to live like water storage containers where they can also breed.
Besides eating all my plants, occasionally falling in my swimming pool, and being a harbor for Lyme ticks, should I know anything else about deer in Saddle River?
Deer culling in Saddle River was stopped in March of 2023. Ostensibly, this was done to gather data on the effectiveness of the culling. Many of the residents felt that the culling was inhumane and that another means of decreasing the numbers of deer might be more useful.
What are some of the hazards deer pose to residents of the Borough?
Most people in Bergen County and in other parts of the tri-state area are wary of meeting deer along country roads at night, specifically because young animals are prone to darting out in front of cars. This can cause injury to drivers and passengers, not to mention the deer. The deer are an annoyance because of the flower eating, the Lyme ticks, and of course their darting ways.
Now there is new data to suggest that deer pose a Covid risk to humans. Three of every ten white tailed deer in the USA have Covid. Data also suggests that they could be a source of virus mutations that can be passed to humans. Humans transmitted the virus to deer about 100 times, and there were three instances in which the virus was passed back to humans. One person was from North Carolina and two from Massachusetts. Moreover, testing showed that the deer had been exposed to all possible variants: alpha, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron. (Nature Communications 2023).
Are these the only animals that can harbor Covid19?
No, these viruses can infect and persist in various species with the potential to evolve and persist in wildlife. The virus has been found in dogs (I wrote about that several months ago), mink, rats, otters, ferrets, hamsters, gorillas, cats, lions, and tigers.
Don’t forget to ask questions of me via my website @doctorboblahita.com. You might also want to order and read my books which are available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your favorite bookstore.