Top 5 Worrisome Diseases

O

Orleander

OH JOY!!!!
Valued Senior Member
1. Malaria
2. Smallpox
3. West Nile Virus
4. Ebola
5. Dengue Fever

How hard would it be to make mosquitoes extinct? How big of an impact on the animal kingdom (not human) would it have? (and yes, I know humans are animals, yada yada yada, but that's not what I'm asking)

link
 
I read a book called "the Hotzone" about ebola. Ebola is definitely number one, no other disease (on Earth, likely) comes close to the deadliness of ebola.
 
Orleander said:
How hard would it be to make mosquitoes extinct? How big of an impact on the animal kingdom (not human) would it have?
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I have wondered the same thing.
What kind of impact would there be?
Is there any aspect of the ecosystem that relies upon them?
I don't see any "benefit" they offer.
 
I think it would be very difficult to exterminate mosquitoes. But the more important question is what is the potential impact? Subtracting an insect such as the mosquito from an ecosystem could turn out to have a negligible impact. But it might very well have unintended consequences that turn out to be as bad or worse than the problem you were trying to solve by removing them. Without being certain of the long term outcome, it would be very unwise to even try and exterminate the species of mosquitoes that plague humans.

In the long term future, it might be possible to replace present mosquito populations with ones that have been modified to not feed on humans.

I think the better solution to this, and other disease problems, might be best addressed by augmenting the human immune system. Imagine having an immune system that could fight off anything. I have no idea if it is even possible, but it certainly seems like a worthy goal. Get cracking immunologists!
 
norsefire both you and orleander are wrong.

Aids is the number one disease the WHO is worried about
2 is TB
3 is pandemic flu

maleria wouldnt come in till 4
 
oh and orleander, who the hell is worried about small pox. Its the only disease on earth to have been COMPLEATLY iradicated. It only exists in 2 i think labs in the world
 
I wouldn't recommend it either, but it is an interesting thing to consider, in my opinion.

I don't think it would be that difficult.
They were able to create mosquitos whose offspring's offspring would be born sterile (giving them a chance to breed and spread the... disease? virus? my memory is a bit fuzzy on exactly how they did it).
 
Asguard said:
norsefire both you and orleander are wrong.

Aids is the number one disease the WHO is worried about
2 is TB
3 is pandemic flu

maleria wouldnt come in till 4
Click to expand...

No, I'm not wrong. Did you see the link? If you think they are wrong, take it up with them.
 
Asguard said:
oh and orleander, who the hell is worried about small pox. Its the only disease on earth to have been COMPLEATLY iradicated. It only exists in 2 i think labs in the world
Click to expand...

Again, read the link and take it up with them.

If you have a link to another list, feel free to post it and when you do, I won't say 'ASGUARD, YOU ARE WRONG", because I don't think I know everything about everything. I will say "why is it that way?"
 
From the link:

Smallpox
Spread by: Bioterrorism or clinical accident
Kill rate: 30%
Death toll: 500 million; 2 million per year in the 1960s

Well, this one isn’t out in the wild. Anymore. Worldwide vaccination programs eradicated smallpox by 1980, but two government-approved labs in the U.S. and Russia keep stores of it. A 2006 investigative report by the British newspaper The Guardian determined that, though very unlikely, it could be made from scratch, or someone could just steal it. Since smallpox is very contagious—it can survive in air for hours—the CDC would consider even one confirmed case a “public-health emergency.” Vaccines exist, but they can cause serious side effects. There is no cure.
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Why do we have stores of it? :bugeye::shrug:
 
Asguard, AIDS is dangerous....but it is slower and less contagious than ebola. Ebola is much more deadly, quicker, and very easy to spread.


AIDS is just more widespread, ebola, however, is the deadlier disease.
 
yeah, but I always figured mosquitoes were the bulk of it. Anyways, I think exterminating mosquitoes would have minimal affect on the environment.

Do mosquitoes pass diseases to animals as well?
 
1. Fundamentalism
2. Illusory Pattern Perception
3. Fossil Fuel Delusion
4. Constant Size Earth Delusion
5. Climate Change Delusion
 
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