New Orleans has become a fetid, filthy city that’s dangerous to be in. At the moment, the danger to the health of its remaining citizen equals that of some of the worst third world cities. We all know about the sewage and corpses floating in the water?and the alligators that are feeding off the bodies?but there are more subtle problems, like mosquitoes carrying the yellow fever virus, a disease usually only found in Africa and South America.
We are told to get rid of standing water in buckets and bird baths to prevent mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus from laying their eggs in it. Imagine the problems in a city with streets filled with standing water. West Nile, which in most cases causes symptoms akin to a case of flu, is the least of people’s worries. They are more concerned with the serious mosquito-borne illness yellow fever.
Yellow fever was originally spread from infected mosquitoes to monkeys in tropical rain forests. However, in this case, mosquitoes are contracting and spreading the virus by breeding in fetid water. Just as with bird flu, you become infected with yellow fever when you are bitten by mosquitoes that are infected themselves. Symptoms are high fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, vomiting, and backache. Yellow fever can lead to kidney and liver failure, which causes the jaundice, leading to yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes. This is what gives yellow fever its name. There is no specific treatment for the disease, although there are vaccinations that can prevent it. Stay tuned to see if the CDC brings stocks of this serum to New Orleans.
There is a way to understand the wacky weather we’re having. If you appreciate our reporting, subscribe today. And please show the world how much you love us.
NOTE: This news story, previously published on our old site, will have any links removed.
Subscribers, to watch the subscriber version of the video, first log in then click on Dreamland Subscriber-Only Video Podcast link.