I'm sorry but how many times have we heard about these diseases and how we're all gonna die. SARS, West Nile, Avian Flu. You notice that these things pass. Some people do get sick and even die, but there's no reason for hysteria. Guess I have become a skeptic. I really don't mean this as an attack, but you can't stop mosquitos entirely. They just keep coming. You can't do a whole lot to prevent any illness except those with vaccines. I have more concern with malaria, which is really crippling third world countries. Cancer, AIDS (which is manageable to an extent in the US, but again a real problem in third world countries) and many other illnesses which have been around for centuries with no cure. New illnesses should be respected, but not feared until they become REAL problems. You know, the total death toll for SARS was a little over 500 people. Cancer kills approximately 200 people per year in every state! AGAIN, I am not trying to attack you for bringing this up, but I think we lose focus on real threats (that we know are out there) out of fear of new unknown ones that monst likely won't ever affect us. Just my thoughts. feel free to couter attack! -Ais.

PS. NO personal offence to you Rootdigger. I absolutely respect you and all your advice. Please forgive me for my dissent.

I just thank God we don't have malaria here anymore. I worry more about mosquito-borne illnesses for my horses than for myself, but they are vaccinated against Eastern Equine Encephalitis and West Nile Virus, so they're actually better protected than I am. I take tick-borne illnesses seriously, having known some people who contracted Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and knowing how debilitating Lyme disease can be, so I check every day during the growing season. I don't mind spiders and snakes, but ticks really get to me.

I think the discussions about bird flu are worthwhile, although in reality the only thing that would stop another deadly pandemic would be quarantine. That would be devestating to the economy of the area that it occurred in, but quarantine is the only practical solution. It takes weeks, if not months, to produce large amounts of vaccine, and since the flu mutates so much just any flu vaccine would probably be ineffective. I believe I heard that the current bird flu would have to undergo 8 mutations to match the 1918-1919 flu, which was so deadly because it caused the immune system to greatly overreact to the virus, so that the virus resulted in a massive autoimmune attack. That's why so many young healthy people died with that flu.

I also don't do much to control standing water in my yard. I gots da' skeeters but not in out of control numbers. Plenty of visitors have complained about all the pot saucers being breeding grounds. I just take them over to the creek that runs across the back boundary and explain that there is no way I can remove the insects from my property as long there is water that close by.

I heard someone say that 20% of the human population gets 80% of the bites. They do bite me but it doesn't itch as bad as its seems for other people. I just hate the idea of spraying myself with chemical repellents just to go outside.

Ais, no offense taken. We learn by batting things back and forth, or at least I do.

I'm not paranoid about this, my yard will attest to that, but I do think we should pay some attention to it. I have a run off ditch, which at this point I can't do a lot about, but I can do something about the pots and such that are left sitting around when I get lazy. It won't stop it, but maybe it'll slow it down some at least up around the house. My elderly motherinlaw is very allergic to their bites and I really hate to see her in so much discomfort. At her age there is also a question of a weaker immune system so it pays to be careful.

Alicia, I hear ya on the tick illnesses. I try to be a good steward of the land and all it's critters, but I draw the line there.

I've read a good bit about the 1918 pandemic, it's the genealogy bug. There were some interesting journals and notes kept by some of the docs and other caregivers. My Great Grandmother lost 2 younger siblings both in their teens, and a baby to it is how I became interested in it. From what I've read the war (a lot of troops coming home off rotation) is what caused that to spread so fast. Plus bad sanitary conditions in many homes. Otherwise it would have been more isolated. Part of the problem today is that we're so transient, that it wouldn't take long for something to spread like wildfire before we were even aware of it. I'm not going to wrap myself in mosquito netting when I go out to garden or anything but it's probably a wise thing to take some precautions.

John, there are some pretty good natural substances out there on the market that work pretty well. Burts Bee's has one I really like. I forget to use it most the time, but do try to take it with me if I'm going to be out in the evening.

Even if we're not too bothered by them you take someone with say diabetes and a bad reaction to bites and mosquito can be real problem. So it is good to keep them down as much as possible.

People with weaker immune systems or other health problems ALWAYS bear the brunt of these diseases and have to be more concerned.
Mosquitos don't bother me either as much as the spray does, but I do hate them. Whereas my brother literally welts up when they bite and would practically eat DEET to keep them away.
Guess I was feeling the need to rant yesterday. I too think that attention should be paid to these things. It's just the alarmist attitude that the media likes to take to them that makes me a skeptic. The avian flu was all over the news and now you hear almost nothing about it. The threat is gone? More likely people just got bored with the story.
I live in an area with ponds. Mosquitos are a fact of life. If someone could get rid of them I would be all for it. But as it is I just don't see how to prevent them biting and passing on diseases other than DEET (which makes me nauseous so I hate using it) It is a pain that they really keep you from the garden at dawn and dusk, which are the best times for gardening temperature-wise. -Ais.

News about avian flu will probably revive when flu season picks up. The other thing besides quarantine that will limit a dangerous flu outbreak (quarantine squashed SARS before it could spread too much), is scientists monitoring the avian flu for genetic changes.

OT but I can't even stand to watch TV news anymore. Almost all of it is sensationalistic and incomplete. The very tone of it really gets on my nerves.