Zika Virus: on the Lam?
Respected international scientist, Dr Klaus L E Kaiser, issues words of caution in the wake of the Zika virus and concerns over mosquito-caused infectious diseases and ‘dangerous’ climate change. 
Kaiser writes:
Just in case you feel a need for being on the lam, nature has a tip for you! Whether you’re hiding out in the bush or mingling with the downtown (abbey ??) crowd, you ought to wear the old-fashioned zebra-type striped garb. You know what I mean, the kind of garb that was common in certain government institutions, like in the picture nearby.
After all, as was recently reported in the journal PLOS ONE in an article entitled “Zebra Stripes through the Eyes of Their Predators, Zebras, and Humans,” it seems to be particularly important in the African savannah to avoid not only them nasty lions but, more importantly, blood-sucking insects, like mosquitos.
Mosquitos & Friends
If you are in the outdoors, some insects can make your stay miserable in a hurry. In the back country, black flies and mosquitos come readily to mind. Especially when it’s calm, hot, and sticky, these critters find their way into any opening that may give them access to your blood. But that’s not all: their bites’ itch, rashes, and pain last for days afterwards. The real problem though is not the (temporary) itch or rash, but the lifelong problems that can result from parasites they transmit.
Mosquitos and other insects are not just after your blood. They are well-known carriers of tropical diseases, such as dengue fever, yellow fever, malaria, encephalitis, and the Zika virus, the latter being recently linked to brain damage in infants. The latter type of infection may even put a damper on the coming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Construction of the Panama Canal just over one hundred years ago was having a devastating effect on some twenty thousand workers until the large-scale use of the insecticide DDT eliminated the local abundance of mosquitos. Even now, in southern Ontario, civic authorities treat storm sewers to prevent mosquitos from breeding there and suppress the spread of the West Nile virus and other diseases.
Malaria
The Worldwatch Institute estimates that between 300 and 500 (more) million people are affected by malaria, annually, predominantly in Africa and South America. The mosquito itself is not the problem but the mosquito-borne parasite Plasmodium sp. The institute also claims that between 1 and 3 million people are dying from that each year.
Mosquitos and with them the disease carrying parasites had been effectively reduced in many areas with the insecticide DDT. The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2001) ended its widespread use in the western world; however, there are still several countries in Africa using it for mosquito control. More modern insecticides (for example, the pyrethroids) are less effective, provide control over shorter periods, and are more expensive.
As the new study on the zebras’ stripes claims, the old-fashioned idea of their stripes helping to confuse any lion which might want to have a good meal on them is, at best, secondary, or no longer valid at all. The real purpose of that zebra “camouflage” is claimed to be to confuse the biting insects. Apparently, they (the insects) are better at distinguishing between their potential victims than the sharp-eyed lions, much less from 50 yards away. If you were a mosquito, which stripe would you go for in the next picture? 
Frankly, I have my doubts about the visual acuity of tiny insects over a distance of that size. But you don’t have to be short-sighted to figure that out; just a bit of common sense—or actual experience—would suffice.
Common Sense
If all you have to go by are some computer simulations, devoid of any real life experience, you ought to take a step back and ask a simple question, namely: How realistic is your theory in the real world? Is there any real evidence to support it, and is there any evidence that would nix your theory?
That is not to say that a long-cherished theory may not be proven wrong at some point in time. However, basing a revolutionary theory on (only) a computer model, rather than experimental observations, is a bit dicey, to say the least.
From past claims by climate-doomsters about the Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets melting in a great hurry, the Northwest Passage opening up to allow year-round commercial ship traffic, and many other super-computer models’ based predictions, nothing of that sort has actually happened. In fact, the observations, like those published daily by the Danish Meteorological Institute show rather the opposite. The Arctic ice cover is showing no sign of wanting to disappear in a hurry—it’s actually increasing—and the Antarctic ice shield is no slouch either; after three consecutive years of new record extents, the previous increase appears to have come to a halt, for the time being. So, you might reasonably ask:
What’s the Problem?
Or, in other words, is the world approaching a “self-immolation” temperature instead of a long-term cooling trend? To be honest (am I not always??), there is no simple answer. Nature is full of cycles, lasting from hours to centuries, or longer.
But one thing is clear: Common sense prevails in the long run!
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About the Author
Dr. Klaus L.E. Kaiser is a professional scientist with a Ph.D. in chemistry from the Technical University, Munich, Germany. He has worked as a research scientist and project chief at Environment Canada‘s Canada Centre for Inland Waters for over 30 years and is currently Director of Research at TerraBase Inc. He is author of nearly 300 publications in scientific journals, government and agency reports, books, computer programs, trade magazines, and newspaper articles. Dr. Kaiser has been president of the International Association for Great Lakes Research, a peer reviewer of numerous scientific papers for several journals, Editor-in-Chief of the Water Quality Research Journal of Canada for nearly a decade, and an adjunct professor. He has contributed to a variety of scientific projects and reports and has made many presentations at national and international conferences.
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