The outbreaks of many diseases that used to be contained in isolated incidents has become a thing of the past, thanks to modern travel, mostly by air which can reach all corners of the world in less than a day. The recent outbreak of swine flu, a totally different virus more akin to the bird-flu outbreak we had was a first time test of a virus that spread so fast it got out of the containment level before authorities could react. Weaknesses have been exposed and the many gaps of even the best funded government’s health services put to the test. In the end, the world was unprepared for the outbreak which has added to the many problem super-bugs we are now dealing from dengue, avian and swine flu among some of the most recent.
As stated in a previous post, a multi-strain vaccine is under development in Australia where the disease was previously void. The many types of mosquitoes used to spread through the ballast tanks of cargo ships who took in eggs and even live mosquitoes ready to release them when they unload ballast when they reach their destination. Aircraft are a faster mode of transport, from months in ships to hours, live mosquitoes can be brought on in cargo holds, baggage and even within the plane’s passenger cabin. Viruses may lurk in people to infect mosquitoes native to where they live causing a spread on a massive scale in an environment where they flourish. More posts and updates on developments in the virus that is Dengue that continues to kill people the world over.