Climate Change and Alabama: Another Threat

    Scientists have projected three possible warmer climate scenarios, and in all three, mosquitoes that carry Dengue Fever are increasingly found in Alabama and other Southeastern states. 
     That especially endangers infants and the elderly.

From the N.Y. Times story about the new research:

"Much of the Southeast United States used to be home to mosquito-borne diseases. Malaria was a threat until the middle of the 20th century, when a mosquito-eradication campaign eliminated the disease. But that campaign relied heavily on liberal application of the insecticide DDT, which had a host of harmful environmental effects."

  
     The Alabama Department of Public Health reported just one case of Dengue fever in 2018, and seven cases of Malaria that same year:

"The increase of global travel has brought diseases once uncommon or unheard of in the United States to our shores. Outbreaks of mosquito-borne illnesses such as the Zika Virus, Chikungunya, Dengue Fever and West Nile Virus have become more commonplace in recent years. Infected mosquito vectors in Alabama have been documented carrying other serious diseases such as Eastern Equine Encephalitis, Saint Louis Encephalitis, and La Crosse Encephalitis."