G
GeorgeWashingtonAdmirer
Guest
Chagas Disease Proliferating - SoCal Headed To 'Hell'
From Patricia Doyle, PhD
3-16-7
Hello Bert,
Thank you for the article below. Given the fact that illegals from Chagas
infected regions are flooding into the US every day, I think that we are
going to see a full scale public health crisis in many areas of the US
within 7-10 years.
Not only will public health officials become overwhelmed but hospitals will
be forced share in this nightmare. I do not see how hospitals and the
taxpayers are going to pay the bills of a Chagas-infected population. South
and Central America are experiencing this very health crisis now.
Illegals are flocking into the US as 'workers.' There comes a time when a
Chagas-infected person becomes unable to work. They then become in need of
expensive, permanent medical care. The George Bush 'administration' is so
shallow that it hasn't even begun to calculate the price of this 'CHEAP'(?)
labor. Those who go onto the chronic stage of Chagas and the heart or colon
problems will be unable to work and in need of assistance.
The local US kissing bug species have now demonstrated their ability to
carry and vector the T. Cruzi parasite. These triatoma bugs have colonized
homes and spread the parasite to local small animal populations and, as we
saw in Louisiana, infected a 74 year old victim in her own home in New
Orleans. Dogs, armidillos and other small animals serve as reservoir for
the disease. This fact should have "served notice" that Chagas is capable
of local spreading in the US. Triatoma bugs can be found in southern to mid
latitudes in the US. These bugs can be found as far north as Maryland.
There have been organ recipients who contracted Chagas from transplants and
cases of simple blood transfusion transmission. Health authorities are not
screening blood for Chagas.
Public health law would allow the government of the US to close down the
border and stop anyone from entering the US from Chagas-infected regions.
It is obvious that the US government is more concerned about 'cheap' labor
for corporations and business entities than concern for the public health
of its citizens. Furthermore, US the taxpayers will, as usual, receive the
bill for medical care of Chagas infected, and the cost for Public health
trying to deal with a crisis situation in the near future, let's say 2012.
And what a bill that's going to be.
I just don't understand why, when we have a chance to stop the Chagas
spread in the US, WHY are we not closing the borders? Deporting anyone who
is infected with Chagas? This is a matter of the most basic common sense
public health. This could just be the next pandemic and we have the power
to stop it before it really gets rolling.
Once we allow the genie that is Chagas out of the bottle, there is NO
stopping it. The CDC is misleading the public by calling Chagas a disease
of poverty and poor living conditions. That's a lie. People from all walks
of life and socioeconomic groups throughout Mexico, Central and South
America have contracted Chagas. By telling Americans that the disease is
one of poverty we are being lulled into believing we are immune to Chagas.
Well, kissing bugs can colonize any home.
In Texas, triatoma bugs were found living under patio blocks. 24 of 31
triatomas were found positive for T. Cruzi. We have the vector, we have
infected small animals and the vector had colonized homes within the US.
This tells me we have a problem; we have conditions locally that favor
Chagas spread within the US. Why are we allowing an influx of
Chagas-infected people to continue to flood into the US, and do so
ILLEGALLY?
2008 Presidential election is not far away. We need to DEMAND that
prospective candidates take a stand on illegal immigration. If the current
candidates won't take a stand than we need to find an anti-illegal
immigration candidate who will.
Patricia
FYI
In the small community of San Benito, Texas (Figure 1), after three pet
dogs died from Chagas cardiomyopathy, personnel from the Texas Department
of Health, the Cameron County Health Department, Environmental Health
Division, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
inspected the owner's home, garage, and grounds for potential triatomine
insect vectors (Figure 2). Blood was drawn from four dogs and two persons
residing on the property and tested for antibodies to T. cruzi. A second
site approximately 2 miles away was also inspected and blood drawn from
three dogs, one of which had been diagnosed as positive for T. cruzi by the
original veterinarian. A follow-up serologic survey was conducted to
determine the percentage of the stray dogs in Cameron County that would
test positive for Chagas disease antibodies. Once a week, samples from
stray dogs were shipped to CDC for testing. Each sample was issued an
identification number; and information on the animal's location, sex, age,
health condition, and size was recorded. Serum specimens were tested for
anti-T. cruzi antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) (6,7).
Ecologic niches and potential geographic distributions were modeled by
using the Genetic Algorithm for Rule-set Prediction (GARP) (8-10). In
general, the procedure focuses on modeling ecologic niches, the conjunction
of ecologic conditions within which a species is able to maintain
populations without immigration. Specifically, GARP relates ecologic
characteristics of known occurrence points to those of points randomly
sampled from the rest of the study region, seeking to develop a series of
decision rules that best summarizes those factors associated with the
species' presence. Recently, this method has been used to study the
distribution of species complex members and vector-reservoir relationships
with respect to Chagas disease (11,12).
Inspection of the residence where the three dogs lived indicated a
substantial infestation with the triatomine species T. gerstaeckeri (Figure
3). Triatomines were collected under cement slabs of a backyard patio
adjacent to the house and from a garage located approximately 75 feet from
the home (Figure 2). Of 31 live triatomines collected, including adults of
both sexes and immature stages (i.e., two fifth-instar nymphs), 24
contained T. cruzi-like parasites in their hindgut (Figure 4). Cultures
were established from triatomine urine collected from insects that were fed
in the laboratory and placed in 1.5-mL microcentrifuge tubes. Approximately
50 µL of clear urine was injected into Novy, Nicolle, & MacNeal culture
medium (13). The cultures were positive for parasites confirmed to be T.
cruzi, on the basis of morphologic criteria. Inspection of the second
residence failed to indicate a bug infestation; however, the pet owner
recalled frequently observing both rats (Rattus spp.) and opossums
(Didelphis virginiana) on the premises. At the first site, three of the
four dogs tested positive for T. cruzi, with titers ranging from 1:128 to
1:256. Neither of the two persons had positive antibody titers against T.
cruzi. At the second site, only the previously diagnosed dog tested
positive, with a titer of 1:256. The other two dogs tested negative, as did
the pet owner. Serum samples from stray dogs from Cameron County, Texas,
were tested for antiT. cruzi antibodies. Of 375 dogs tested, 28 (7.5%)
were positive by IIF, with titers ranging from 1:32 to 1:512. The
sensitivity of this test in humans is 98.8% (pers. comm., Patricia P.
Wilkins, Division of Parasitic Diseases, CDC). Because of the low
specificity of serologic tests for distinguishing T. cruzi from Leishmania
spp., all positive samples were tested for antibodies to L. donovani. A low
level of cross-reactivity was observed in 17 of the 28 samples. In each
case, however, the titer was 12 dilutions less than the titer to T. cruzi,
indicating a primary response to T. cruzi rather than to Leishmania spp.
Ecologic niche models for T. gerstaeckeri were developed by using GARP,
based on published and unpublished collection records from Mexico and the
southwestern United States. The model predicted a distribution for this
species that extends from central Mexico, through central Texas, the Texas
panhandle, into northern Texas and southeastern New Mexico (Figure 5).
Conclusions
Triatoma gerstaeckeri is considered a sylvatic species, most frequently
associated with pack rat (Neotoma spp.) burrows (4). Although individual
triatomine insects occasionally invade domestic dwellings throughout the
southwestern United States and Mexico (4,5,14), this species has not been
reported to colonize these habitats. In this investigation, colonization
appears to have occurred, based on the observation of large numbers of
bugs, including ones in immature stages. In the Chagas diseaseendemic
regions of South and Central America, the primary risk for insect
transmission to humans is related to the efficiency with which local vector
species can invade and colonize homes, resulting in a domestic transmission
cycle for what is otherwise exclusively a zoonotic disease in the southern
United States. In disease-endemic countries, higher house infestation rates
generally result in a higher risk of transmission. At the first site in
south Texas, six dogs either died or tested positive for T. cruzi, and 24
of 31 bugs contained hindgut trypanosomes. These observations demonstrate
the existence of a domestic transmission cycle for an insect species that
is typically considered a zoonotic vector. Whether this observation
represents an isolated case or actually occurs more frequently but remains
unrecognized, indicating an emerging public health problem, remains to be
determined. The serologic results in stray dogs are very similar to those
reported in previous studies from the region, suggesting that the disease
is stably maintained in this reservoir host (15,16). The distributional
predictions based on GARP models indicate a potentially broad distribution
for this species and suggest additional areas of risk beyond those
previously reported (14), should this problem become of greater public
health concern.
Dr. Beard is chief of the Vector Genetics Section in the Division of
Parasitic Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His
research focuses on the molecular biology of insect disease vectors and the
molecular epidemiology of Pneumocystis pneumonia in HIV-infected persons.
Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD Bus
Admin, Tropical Agricultural Economics
Univ of West Indies
Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message board at:
http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php Also my new website:
http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/ Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa Go with God and
in Good Health
From: Bert To:
dr_p_doyle@hotmail.com>
Subject: article for you of possible interest from LA Times
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2007
Hi. I appreciate all the material from you I see on Rense.
I'm sending this article from the Los Angeles Times in case you did not
come across it elsewhere.
The Chagas-infected numbers are huge if you consider 1 in 3800 donors means
perhaps 2 to 4x that in general population.
Los Angeles has 3.4 million people, so that works out to about 900 to 3600.
When you add up chagas, resistant TB, MRSA, pork parasite brain worms in
food supplies to Mexican immigrants illegal and legal (responsible for a
large number of the seizures cases showing up in SoCal ERs), and maybe
'Morgellons', Southern California is due to become a disease hell I figure.
Very worrisome.
Thanks for your published work.
Bert
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-chagas15mar15,0,5645224.story?track=
mostviewed-storylevel
Parasite Is a Growing Concern For Health Care Professionals
One in 3,800 donors in the L.A. area tested positive for Chagas, a deadly
disease that is mainly found in Latin America.
By Rong-Gong Lin II Times Staff Writer
March 15, 2007
A little-known but potentially deadly parasite from Latin America has
become one of the latest threats to the blood and organ supplies in the
United States, especially in Los Angeles, where many donors have traveled
to affected countries, health officials say.
Last year, two heart transplant patients at different Los Angeles hospitals
contracted the parasitic disease, called Chagas, causing health authorities
to issue a national bulletin. Within months, both patients subsequently
died, although not directly from Chagas, according to the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
The parasite, which is generally passed to humans from a blood-sucking
insect that looks like a striped ****roach, can feed over years on tissues
of the heart and gastrointestinal tract. After decades, tissues can be
eroded so much that the organs fail.
Insect transmission of the parasite in the United States is rare, but
public health and blood bank officials have been concerned about its
increasing prevalence in the blood supply.
In 1996, using an experimental test, the American Red Cross found that one
in 9,850 blood donors in the L.A. area tested positive for the parasite,
Trypanosoma cruzi. Two years later, it was one in every 5,400. By 2006, a
more refined test detected the parasite in one in 3,800 donors. About 10%
to 30% of infected people develop symptoms of chronic disease, experts say.
By contrast, HIV, which blood banks screen for, shows up in one of every
30,000 donors, said Susan Stramer, executive scientific officer for the Red
Cross.
If caught early, strong anti-protozoal drugs such as nifurtimox can bring
the parasite to undetectable levels or, in some cases, eliminate it
entirely.
If the parasite is given the chance to multiply over years or decades,
however, those infected may have to be treated with heart-regulating drugs
or get a pacemaker or heart transplant.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a test suitable for
widespread screening in December. Blood banks have now begun systematically
checking their supplies for the Chagas parasite.
By late January, the American Red Cross and Phoenix-based Blood Systems,
which collect about 65% of the U.S. blood supply, had started screening
blood for T. cruzi. Other banks, including the Blood Bank of San Bernardino
and Riverside Counties, have no immediate plans for screening but are
monitoring test results from banks that are using the test. In late
February, the CDC reported that the "FDA is expected to recommend
implementation of the test by all blood-collection establishments."
No organ donors in the United States are now being screened for the
parasite, although the organ procurement agency that covers much of
Southern California plans to begin testing some donors in mid-April. At
first, the screening will be focused on people who have lived in or
traveled to rural parts of Latin America, said Thomas Mone, chief executive
of the agency, OneLegacy.
In Latin America, about 10 million to 12 million people are believed to be
infected with the Chagas parasite. As many as 1 million of them are
expected to die from the disease unless there are advances in treatment,
according to Dr. James Maguire, a University of Maryland expert on the
disease.
"Chagas is very, very prevalent in South and Central America," said Marek
Nowicki, a USC blood-disease expert who studied the effect of Chagas on the
Southern California organ supply with the National Institute of
Transplantation.
"The number of [immigrant] Latinos in Southern California, Texas and other
parts of the United States are growing, but especially in L.A., a large
proportion of organ donors are Latino," Nowicki said. "They're basically
bringing with them the disease prevalence in the area they used to live."
The problem is not limited to immigrants. Tourists, too, can be carriers.
The heart transplant cases in Los Angeles last year illustrate the problem.
One donor was a native of El Salvador living in Los Angeles, and the other
was born in the U.S. but had traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico, where T.
cruzi is endemic.
Richard Edward Russo, then 73, received the heart from the Salvadoran
native. The Burbank retiree appeared to be recovering nicely last year
when, several weeks after his transplant at St. Vincent Medical Center in
Los Angeles, he developed a fever and a rash. He complained of being tired
and couldn't eat or walk.
About the same time, a 64-year-old man developed similar symptoms after
receiving a transplant at UCLA Medical Center. He had received the heart
from the American tourist.
At both hospitals, doctors submitted the patients to a battery of tests,
concluding separately that they had Chagas.
The CDC sent anti-parasitic medication out from Atlanta. The drug reduced
the parasite in the blood of both men to undetectable levels. But Russo
never got better, his wife, Carolyn, said. He suffered from other
hospital-acquired infections and had pneumonia at least twice.
"It just went downhill," she said. Russo died in June 2006.
As a result of the cases, the CDC last summer warned doctors that the
prevalence of infection might be higher than previously thought, especially
in areas like Los Angeles County.
Chagas is a clear reminder that "diseases don't have geographic borders
anymore," said Dr. Suman Radhakrishna, an infectious diseases expert in Los
Angeles who helped treat Russo. Doctors need to be "cognizant that diseases
happening elsewhere in the world can happen in our backyard too."
Another disease, cysticercosis, caused by tapeworm larvae, is believed to
cause as many as 10% of the seizures reported to large urban emergency
rooms in California and New Mexico. Dr. Ashok Jain, a USC emergency room
doctor, said the figure may be as high as 20% at Los Angeles County USC
Medical Center.
It is spread through ingestion, not the blood or organ supply.
"When I was in Cook County in Chicago, I didn't even know it existed," said
Jain, an associate professor of clinical emergency medicine at USC. "Then I
came to L.A. County . and oh, God, there were so many cases."
Diseases like Chagas and cysticercosis have emerged as an issue for some
opponents of illegal immigration, who argue that exotic diseases are often
spread by illegal immigrants.
"Curbing illegal entry will diminish the problem of exposure to such
diseases because legal immigrants are medically screened to protect the
U.S. public," said Jack Martin, special projects director for the
Federation for American Immigration Reform, an immigration control group..
Public health officials say the migration of diseases has always been an
issue - and is especially so today, in an increasingly mobile world with a
global economy. Many urge caution, not alarm.
"I don't want people to overreact, but I don't want people to ignore it,"
said Victor Tsang, chief of the immunochemistry lab at the CDC's Division
of Parasitic Diseases. "The more we pay attention to it, the better off we
are."
http://www.rense.com/general75/chhah.htm
PLEASE EMAIL THESE LINKS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW:
"The Illegal-Alien Crime Wave" by Heather MacDonald
www.City-Journal.org/html/14_1_the_illegal_alien.html
www.PredatoryAliens.com
www.ImmigrationsHumanCost.org
www.DayLaborers.org
www.Alipac.us
www.ImmigrationWatchdog.com
www.AmericanPatrol.com
www.SaveOurState.org
www.EscapingJustice.com
See the COLOSSAL costs of illegal aliens to the American taxpayer:
www.ImmigrationCounters.com
---------------------------------------------
"Por La Raza todo. Fuera de La Raza nada"
("For The Race everything, for those outside The Race nothing")
-- Motto of MEChA, one of the nation's largest publically-funded
organizations with cells on high school and college campuses across the USA
(Note: Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez says he "used to be" a member)
---------------------------------------------
“How Eisenhower solved illegal border crossings from Mexico”
By John Dillin
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0706/p09s01-coop.html
Excerpt:
“General Eisenhower ... quoted a report in The New York Times,
highlighting one paragraph that said: ‘The rise in illegal border-crossing
by Mexican 'wetbacks' to a current rate of more than
1,000,000 cases a year has been accompanied by a curious relaxation
in ethical standards extending all the way from the farmer-exploiters
of this contraband labor to the highest levels of the Federal
Government ..."
“Herbert Brownell Jr., Eisenhower's first attorney general, said the
president had a sense of urgency about illegal immigration when he took
office.
“America ‘was faced with a breakdown in law enforcement on a very large
scale,’ Mr. Brownell said. ‘When I say large scale, I mean hundreds of
thousands were coming in from Mexico [every year] without restraint.’"
--------------------------------------------------
Just two of MANY American cops murdered by illegals:
www.DeputyDavidMarch.com
www.KrisEggle.org
"Unfortunately, the majority of illegal aliens who are here are engaged in
criminal activity. Identity theft, use of fraudulent Social Security
numbers and green cards, tax evasion, driving without licenses represent
some of the crimes that are engaged in by the majority of illegal aliens on
a daily basis merely to maintain and hide their illegal status. In
addition, violent crime and drug distribution and possession is also
prevalent among illegal aliens. Over 25% of today's federal prison
population are illegal aliens. In some areas of the country, 12% of
felonies, 25% of burglaries and 34% of thefts are committed by illegal
aliens."
-- Testimony of District Attorney John M. Morganelli before the House
Subcommittee on Immigration, Border, Security and Claims [Note: 99% of
warrants for murder in Los Angeles, California -- the USA's 2nd
most-populous city -- are for illegal aliens]
"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate,
tireless minority keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of
men."
-- Samuel Adams
"“All great truths begin as heresies.”
-- Former Democrat Governor of Colorado Richard Lamm, official of
Defend Colorado Now, a movement opposed to illegal immigration
and public services for illegal aliens
From Patricia Doyle, PhD
3-16-7
Hello Bert,
Thank you for the article below. Given the fact that illegals from Chagas
infected regions are flooding into the US every day, I think that we are
going to see a full scale public health crisis in many areas of the US
within 7-10 years.
Not only will public health officials become overwhelmed but hospitals will
be forced share in this nightmare. I do not see how hospitals and the
taxpayers are going to pay the bills of a Chagas-infected population. South
and Central America are experiencing this very health crisis now.
Illegals are flocking into the US as 'workers.' There comes a time when a
Chagas-infected person becomes unable to work. They then become in need of
expensive, permanent medical care. The George Bush 'administration' is so
shallow that it hasn't even begun to calculate the price of this 'CHEAP'(?)
labor. Those who go onto the chronic stage of Chagas and the heart or colon
problems will be unable to work and in need of assistance.
The local US kissing bug species have now demonstrated their ability to
carry and vector the T. Cruzi parasite. These triatoma bugs have colonized
homes and spread the parasite to local small animal populations and, as we
saw in Louisiana, infected a 74 year old victim in her own home in New
Orleans. Dogs, armidillos and other small animals serve as reservoir for
the disease. This fact should have "served notice" that Chagas is capable
of local spreading in the US. Triatoma bugs can be found in southern to mid
latitudes in the US. These bugs can be found as far north as Maryland.
There have been organ recipients who contracted Chagas from transplants and
cases of simple blood transfusion transmission. Health authorities are not
screening blood for Chagas.
Public health law would allow the government of the US to close down the
border and stop anyone from entering the US from Chagas-infected regions.
It is obvious that the US government is more concerned about 'cheap' labor
for corporations and business entities than concern for the public health
of its citizens. Furthermore, US the taxpayers will, as usual, receive the
bill for medical care of Chagas infected, and the cost for Public health
trying to deal with a crisis situation in the near future, let's say 2012.
And what a bill that's going to be.
I just don't understand why, when we have a chance to stop the Chagas
spread in the US, WHY are we not closing the borders? Deporting anyone who
is infected with Chagas? This is a matter of the most basic common sense
public health. This could just be the next pandemic and we have the power
to stop it before it really gets rolling.
Once we allow the genie that is Chagas out of the bottle, there is NO
stopping it. The CDC is misleading the public by calling Chagas a disease
of poverty and poor living conditions. That's a lie. People from all walks
of life and socioeconomic groups throughout Mexico, Central and South
America have contracted Chagas. By telling Americans that the disease is
one of poverty we are being lulled into believing we are immune to Chagas.
Well, kissing bugs can colonize any home.
In Texas, triatoma bugs were found living under patio blocks. 24 of 31
triatomas were found positive for T. Cruzi. We have the vector, we have
infected small animals and the vector had colonized homes within the US.
This tells me we have a problem; we have conditions locally that favor
Chagas spread within the US. Why are we allowing an influx of
Chagas-infected people to continue to flood into the US, and do so
ILLEGALLY?
2008 Presidential election is not far away. We need to DEMAND that
prospective candidates take a stand on illegal immigration. If the current
candidates won't take a stand than we need to find an anti-illegal
immigration candidate who will.
Patricia
FYI
In the small community of San Benito, Texas (Figure 1), after three pet
dogs died from Chagas cardiomyopathy, personnel from the Texas Department
of Health, the Cameron County Health Department, Environmental Health
Division, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
inspected the owner's home, garage, and grounds for potential triatomine
insect vectors (Figure 2). Blood was drawn from four dogs and two persons
residing on the property and tested for antibodies to T. cruzi. A second
site approximately 2 miles away was also inspected and blood drawn from
three dogs, one of which had been diagnosed as positive for T. cruzi by the
original veterinarian. A follow-up serologic survey was conducted to
determine the percentage of the stray dogs in Cameron County that would
test positive for Chagas disease antibodies. Once a week, samples from
stray dogs were shipped to CDC for testing. Each sample was issued an
identification number; and information on the animal's location, sex, age,
health condition, and size was recorded. Serum specimens were tested for
anti-T. cruzi antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) (6,7).
Ecologic niches and potential geographic distributions were modeled by
using the Genetic Algorithm for Rule-set Prediction (GARP) (8-10). In
general, the procedure focuses on modeling ecologic niches, the conjunction
of ecologic conditions within which a species is able to maintain
populations without immigration. Specifically, GARP relates ecologic
characteristics of known occurrence points to those of points randomly
sampled from the rest of the study region, seeking to develop a series of
decision rules that best summarizes those factors associated with the
species' presence. Recently, this method has been used to study the
distribution of species complex members and vector-reservoir relationships
with respect to Chagas disease (11,12).
Inspection of the residence where the three dogs lived indicated a
substantial infestation with the triatomine species T. gerstaeckeri (Figure
3). Triatomines were collected under cement slabs of a backyard patio
adjacent to the house and from a garage located approximately 75 feet from
the home (Figure 2). Of 31 live triatomines collected, including adults of
both sexes and immature stages (i.e., two fifth-instar nymphs), 24
contained T. cruzi-like parasites in their hindgut (Figure 4). Cultures
were established from triatomine urine collected from insects that were fed
in the laboratory and placed in 1.5-mL microcentrifuge tubes. Approximately
50 µL of clear urine was injected into Novy, Nicolle, & MacNeal culture
medium (13). The cultures were positive for parasites confirmed to be T.
cruzi, on the basis of morphologic criteria. Inspection of the second
residence failed to indicate a bug infestation; however, the pet owner
recalled frequently observing both rats (Rattus spp.) and opossums
(Didelphis virginiana) on the premises. At the first site, three of the
four dogs tested positive for T. cruzi, with titers ranging from 1:128 to
1:256. Neither of the two persons had positive antibody titers against T.
cruzi. At the second site, only the previously diagnosed dog tested
positive, with a titer of 1:256. The other two dogs tested negative, as did
the pet owner. Serum samples from stray dogs from Cameron County, Texas,
were tested for antiT. cruzi antibodies. Of 375 dogs tested, 28 (7.5%)
were positive by IIF, with titers ranging from 1:32 to 1:512. The
sensitivity of this test in humans is 98.8% (pers. comm., Patricia P.
Wilkins, Division of Parasitic Diseases, CDC). Because of the low
specificity of serologic tests for distinguishing T. cruzi from Leishmania
spp., all positive samples were tested for antibodies to L. donovani. A low
level of cross-reactivity was observed in 17 of the 28 samples. In each
case, however, the titer was 12 dilutions less than the titer to T. cruzi,
indicating a primary response to T. cruzi rather than to Leishmania spp.
Ecologic niche models for T. gerstaeckeri were developed by using GARP,
based on published and unpublished collection records from Mexico and the
southwestern United States. The model predicted a distribution for this
species that extends from central Mexico, through central Texas, the Texas
panhandle, into northern Texas and southeastern New Mexico (Figure 5).
Conclusions
Triatoma gerstaeckeri is considered a sylvatic species, most frequently
associated with pack rat (Neotoma spp.) burrows (4). Although individual
triatomine insects occasionally invade domestic dwellings throughout the
southwestern United States and Mexico (4,5,14), this species has not been
reported to colonize these habitats. In this investigation, colonization
appears to have occurred, based on the observation of large numbers of
bugs, including ones in immature stages. In the Chagas diseaseendemic
regions of South and Central America, the primary risk for insect
transmission to humans is related to the efficiency with which local vector
species can invade and colonize homes, resulting in a domestic transmission
cycle for what is otherwise exclusively a zoonotic disease in the southern
United States. In disease-endemic countries, higher house infestation rates
generally result in a higher risk of transmission. At the first site in
south Texas, six dogs either died or tested positive for T. cruzi, and 24
of 31 bugs contained hindgut trypanosomes. These observations demonstrate
the existence of a domestic transmission cycle for an insect species that
is typically considered a zoonotic vector. Whether this observation
represents an isolated case or actually occurs more frequently but remains
unrecognized, indicating an emerging public health problem, remains to be
determined. The serologic results in stray dogs are very similar to those
reported in previous studies from the region, suggesting that the disease
is stably maintained in this reservoir host (15,16). The distributional
predictions based on GARP models indicate a potentially broad distribution
for this species and suggest additional areas of risk beyond those
previously reported (14), should this problem become of greater public
health concern.
Dr. Beard is chief of the Vector Genetics Section in the Division of
Parasitic Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His
research focuses on the molecular biology of insect disease vectors and the
molecular epidemiology of Pneumocystis pneumonia in HIV-infected persons.
Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD Bus
Admin, Tropical Agricultural Economics
Univ of West Indies
Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message board at:
http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php Also my new website:
http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/ Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa Go with God and
in Good Health
From: Bert To:
dr_p_doyle@hotmail.com>
Subject: article for you of possible interest from LA Times
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2007
Hi. I appreciate all the material from you I see on Rense.
I'm sending this article from the Los Angeles Times in case you did not
come across it elsewhere.
The Chagas-infected numbers are huge if you consider 1 in 3800 donors means
perhaps 2 to 4x that in general population.
Los Angeles has 3.4 million people, so that works out to about 900 to 3600.
When you add up chagas, resistant TB, MRSA, pork parasite brain worms in
food supplies to Mexican immigrants illegal and legal (responsible for a
large number of the seizures cases showing up in SoCal ERs), and maybe
'Morgellons', Southern California is due to become a disease hell I figure.
Very worrisome.
Thanks for your published work.
Bert
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-chagas15mar15,0,5645224.story?track=
mostviewed-storylevel
Parasite Is a Growing Concern For Health Care Professionals
One in 3,800 donors in the L.A. area tested positive for Chagas, a deadly
disease that is mainly found in Latin America.
By Rong-Gong Lin II Times Staff Writer
March 15, 2007
A little-known but potentially deadly parasite from Latin America has
become one of the latest threats to the blood and organ supplies in the
United States, especially in Los Angeles, where many donors have traveled
to affected countries, health officials say.
Last year, two heart transplant patients at different Los Angeles hospitals
contracted the parasitic disease, called Chagas, causing health authorities
to issue a national bulletin. Within months, both patients subsequently
died, although not directly from Chagas, according to the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
The parasite, which is generally passed to humans from a blood-sucking
insect that looks like a striped ****roach, can feed over years on tissues
of the heart and gastrointestinal tract. After decades, tissues can be
eroded so much that the organs fail.
Insect transmission of the parasite in the United States is rare, but
public health and blood bank officials have been concerned about its
increasing prevalence in the blood supply.
In 1996, using an experimental test, the American Red Cross found that one
in 9,850 blood donors in the L.A. area tested positive for the parasite,
Trypanosoma cruzi. Two years later, it was one in every 5,400. By 2006, a
more refined test detected the parasite in one in 3,800 donors. About 10%
to 30% of infected people develop symptoms of chronic disease, experts say.
By contrast, HIV, which blood banks screen for, shows up in one of every
30,000 donors, said Susan Stramer, executive scientific officer for the Red
Cross.
If caught early, strong anti-protozoal drugs such as nifurtimox can bring
the parasite to undetectable levels or, in some cases, eliminate it
entirely.
If the parasite is given the chance to multiply over years or decades,
however, those infected may have to be treated with heart-regulating drugs
or get a pacemaker or heart transplant.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a test suitable for
widespread screening in December. Blood banks have now begun systematically
checking their supplies for the Chagas parasite.
By late January, the American Red Cross and Phoenix-based Blood Systems,
which collect about 65% of the U.S. blood supply, had started screening
blood for T. cruzi. Other banks, including the Blood Bank of San Bernardino
and Riverside Counties, have no immediate plans for screening but are
monitoring test results from banks that are using the test. In late
February, the CDC reported that the "FDA is expected to recommend
implementation of the test by all blood-collection establishments."
No organ donors in the United States are now being screened for the
parasite, although the organ procurement agency that covers much of
Southern California plans to begin testing some donors in mid-April. At
first, the screening will be focused on people who have lived in or
traveled to rural parts of Latin America, said Thomas Mone, chief executive
of the agency, OneLegacy.
In Latin America, about 10 million to 12 million people are believed to be
infected with the Chagas parasite. As many as 1 million of them are
expected to die from the disease unless there are advances in treatment,
according to Dr. James Maguire, a University of Maryland expert on the
disease.
"Chagas is very, very prevalent in South and Central America," said Marek
Nowicki, a USC blood-disease expert who studied the effect of Chagas on the
Southern California organ supply with the National Institute of
Transplantation.
"The number of [immigrant] Latinos in Southern California, Texas and other
parts of the United States are growing, but especially in L.A., a large
proportion of organ donors are Latino," Nowicki said. "They're basically
bringing with them the disease prevalence in the area they used to live."
The problem is not limited to immigrants. Tourists, too, can be carriers.
The heart transplant cases in Los Angeles last year illustrate the problem.
One donor was a native of El Salvador living in Los Angeles, and the other
was born in the U.S. but had traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico, where T.
cruzi is endemic.
Richard Edward Russo, then 73, received the heart from the Salvadoran
native. The Burbank retiree appeared to be recovering nicely last year
when, several weeks after his transplant at St. Vincent Medical Center in
Los Angeles, he developed a fever and a rash. He complained of being tired
and couldn't eat or walk.
About the same time, a 64-year-old man developed similar symptoms after
receiving a transplant at UCLA Medical Center. He had received the heart
from the American tourist.
At both hospitals, doctors submitted the patients to a battery of tests,
concluding separately that they had Chagas.
The CDC sent anti-parasitic medication out from Atlanta. The drug reduced
the parasite in the blood of both men to undetectable levels. But Russo
never got better, his wife, Carolyn, said. He suffered from other
hospital-acquired infections and had pneumonia at least twice.
"It just went downhill," she said. Russo died in June 2006.
As a result of the cases, the CDC last summer warned doctors that the
prevalence of infection might be higher than previously thought, especially
in areas like Los Angeles County.
Chagas is a clear reminder that "diseases don't have geographic borders
anymore," said Dr. Suman Radhakrishna, an infectious diseases expert in Los
Angeles who helped treat Russo. Doctors need to be "cognizant that diseases
happening elsewhere in the world can happen in our backyard too."
Another disease, cysticercosis, caused by tapeworm larvae, is believed to
cause as many as 10% of the seizures reported to large urban emergency
rooms in California and New Mexico. Dr. Ashok Jain, a USC emergency room
doctor, said the figure may be as high as 20% at Los Angeles County USC
Medical Center.
It is spread through ingestion, not the blood or organ supply.
"When I was in Cook County in Chicago, I didn't even know it existed," said
Jain, an associate professor of clinical emergency medicine at USC. "Then I
came to L.A. County . and oh, God, there were so many cases."
Diseases like Chagas and cysticercosis have emerged as an issue for some
opponents of illegal immigration, who argue that exotic diseases are often
spread by illegal immigrants.
"Curbing illegal entry will diminish the problem of exposure to such
diseases because legal immigrants are medically screened to protect the
U.S. public," said Jack Martin, special projects director for the
Federation for American Immigration Reform, an immigration control group..
Public health officials say the migration of diseases has always been an
issue - and is especially so today, in an increasingly mobile world with a
global economy. Many urge caution, not alarm.
"I don't want people to overreact, but I don't want people to ignore it,"
said Victor Tsang, chief of the immunochemistry lab at the CDC's Division
of Parasitic Diseases. "The more we pay attention to it, the better off we
are."
http://www.rense.com/general75/chhah.htm
PLEASE EMAIL THESE LINKS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW:
"The Illegal-Alien Crime Wave" by Heather MacDonald
www.City-Journal.org/html/14_1_the_illegal_alien.html
www.PredatoryAliens.com
www.ImmigrationsHumanCost.org
www.DayLaborers.org
www.Alipac.us
www.ImmigrationWatchdog.com
www.AmericanPatrol.com
www.SaveOurState.org
www.EscapingJustice.com
See the COLOSSAL costs of illegal aliens to the American taxpayer:
www.ImmigrationCounters.com
---------------------------------------------
"Por La Raza todo. Fuera de La Raza nada"
("For The Race everything, for those outside The Race nothing")
-- Motto of MEChA, one of the nation's largest publically-funded
organizations with cells on high school and college campuses across the USA
(Note: Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez says he "used to be" a member)
---------------------------------------------
“How Eisenhower solved illegal border crossings from Mexico”
By John Dillin
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0706/p09s01-coop.html
Excerpt:
“General Eisenhower ... quoted a report in The New York Times,
highlighting one paragraph that said: ‘The rise in illegal border-crossing
by Mexican 'wetbacks' to a current rate of more than
1,000,000 cases a year has been accompanied by a curious relaxation
in ethical standards extending all the way from the farmer-exploiters
of this contraband labor to the highest levels of the Federal
Government ..."
“Herbert Brownell Jr., Eisenhower's first attorney general, said the
president had a sense of urgency about illegal immigration when he took
office.
“America ‘was faced with a breakdown in law enforcement on a very large
scale,’ Mr. Brownell said. ‘When I say large scale, I mean hundreds of
thousands were coming in from Mexico [every year] without restraint.’"
--------------------------------------------------
Just two of MANY American cops murdered by illegals:
www.DeputyDavidMarch.com
www.KrisEggle.org
"Unfortunately, the majority of illegal aliens who are here are engaged in
criminal activity. Identity theft, use of fraudulent Social Security
numbers and green cards, tax evasion, driving without licenses represent
some of the crimes that are engaged in by the majority of illegal aliens on
a daily basis merely to maintain and hide their illegal status. In
addition, violent crime and drug distribution and possession is also
prevalent among illegal aliens. Over 25% of today's federal prison
population are illegal aliens. In some areas of the country, 12% of
felonies, 25% of burglaries and 34% of thefts are committed by illegal
aliens."
-- Testimony of District Attorney John M. Morganelli before the House
Subcommittee on Immigration, Border, Security and Claims [Note: 99% of
warrants for murder in Los Angeles, California -- the USA's 2nd
most-populous city -- are for illegal aliens]
"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate,
tireless minority keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of
men."
-- Samuel Adams
"“All great truths begin as heresies.”
-- Former Democrat Governor of Colorado Richard Lamm, official of
Defend Colorado Now, a movement opposed to illegal immigration
and public services for illegal aliens
