History News Network by Rod Tanchanco,
MD FACP (Fellow of the American College of Physicians)
- It (the mosquito) is a master of stealth,
stretching less than half an inch long and
weighing in at 2.5 milligrams with as
estimated air speed of 1 to 1.5 miles per hour. - It is virtually soundless in flight, registering zero decibels from ten feet.
- Its tracking systems hone in on targets by detecting infrared radiation from warm bodies, chemicals such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid, body odors from as far as a hundred feet, as well as movement from fidgety hosts.
- It (Aedes albopictus) can carry an impressive array of payload: up to 32 different types of viruses PDF costs $39, many of which are lethal to humans.
- And it protects itself from the same viruses with a well-developed immune system that provides a highly effective antiviral defense mechanism.
- The Aedes mosquito, insect vector for dozens of viruses including the Zika virus, is a near-perfect drone.
- A US "program studied the use of Aedes aegypti and Yellow Fever Virus. During this Cold War era, the obvious target was the U.S.S.R.; as the report noted, “Yellow Fever has never occurred in some areas, including Asia, and therefore it is quite probable that the population of the U.S.S.R would be quite susceptible to the disease.”
- In 1956 the US military tried releasing uninfected mosquitoes in Florida.
"They learned that within a day, mosquitos had travelled one to two miles and had bitten many people" - "Interestingly, the actual introduction and establishment of the Aedes (albopictus) mosquito into the U.S. mainland occurred after World War II."
. ."even when the tires arrived dry in the U.S., the mosquito eggs remained viable for months"
(Note: additions by VitaminDWiki are in italix)
See also VitaminDWiki
- A zika-like virus killed 10 percent of those in America’s capital, Philadelphia same mosquito which carries Zika: Aedes aegypti