WEBVTT - All we know about Zika so far... 0:00:01.040 --> 0:00:04.480 Welcome to Stuff you Should Know from House Stuff Works 0:00:04.519 --> 0:00:13.560 dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, 0:00:13.640 --> 0:00:16.560 and there's Charles W. Chuck Bryant, and there's Jerry over there. 0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:24.000 This is Stuff you should Know about breaking news Colan Zica. Yes, 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:26.320 We've had a bunch of people asked us to do 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:30.400 this and over the summer basically, and uh, I finally 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:34.320 gave in. I said, all right, now that the epidemic 0:00:34.440 --> 0:00:38.200 is starting to wayne, we'll step in and start talking 0:00:38.240 --> 0:00:41.600 about it. Well. Uh, one of the reasons I'm always 0:00:41.640 --> 0:00:44.919 reticent to do something so on the forefront is like 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:47.680 this is this will be outdated by the time it's 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:49.600 released in a couple of weeks. Yeah. I was looking 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:52.800 at some of the dates on on the material we used, 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:56.960 and like August was the most recent data I could 0:00:57.000 --> 0:00:59.720 get on some stuff. I'm like that, surely things have 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:03.319 changed enough. Then I want the newest numbers. Give them 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:06.280 to me. Who and they're like, let us go, And 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:13.000 Roger Dalterry said, no, that was a bad joke all over. 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:16.480 So anyway, I mean, we're gonna give you the overview 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:19.080 of what we know. But Zeka is a or at least, 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:22.560 the current outbreak is a pretty new thing and they 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:26.280 don't know a ton about it. So there there's a 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:29.040 lot of mystery involved and a lot is changing on 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:31.920 a daily basis, So just take it with a grain 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:38.720 of salt. Yes, that's not medical advice though, and some deet. Yeah. Um, 0:01:38.840 --> 0:01:44.319 so you said it's a fairly recent a fairly recent origin, UM, 0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:47.520 and a lot of people say, yeah, weird stuff suddenly 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:52.000 appearing around the world, like, um, chicken guna which is 0:01:52.040 --> 0:01:55.200 related to zekea and zeka has to have something to 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:58.440 do with climate change. That's definitely that's going chicken. I 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:01.120 was about to say, that's a delicious chicken. No, you're 0:02:01.160 --> 0:02:05.800 thinking of chicken tonight. Okay, chicken gun is not delicious. 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:08.920 It's very painful. Yes, UM, not making light of that, 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:11.040 I was, but you know what I mean, Yeah, you're 0:02:11.080 --> 0:02:15.480 chuck UM. But it's actually it was back in I 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:20.800 think nineteen forty seven that some researchers UM from Europe 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:25.600 in the United States working in Uganda, UM discovered this 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:30.679 in a Reesea's monkey named Reesa's seven six six. It 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:34.440 was born to be an experimental lab animal because it 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:37.720 was named that UM and they they were looking for 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:41.120 yellow fever and they found instead this brand new virus 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:43.880 that they've never seen before. So Reesa's seven six six 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:47.440 became the first known carrier of zeka. Yeah, and it's 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:49.880 named after that that forest in Uganda where they found 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:53.720 this monkey and they didn't find it in humans until 0:02:54.160 --> 0:02:58.320 nineteen fifty two. And um, and if you're thinking and 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:01.040 at that point it was Uganda, you're not a Tanzania 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:03.240 where they found it in humans. And if you're thinking 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:09.160 nineteen fifty two, guys, this is like breaking news, Well, 0:03:10.080 --> 0:03:14.840 this outbreak is breaking news. Zeka had not been previously 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:20.440 a very big problem pre two thousand seven. It was 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:23.880 very localized to tropical Africa. Yeah, and not a lot 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:26.480 of cases even. Uh. In fact, even in two thousand 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:30.800 seven there were fourteen cases documented, although they think it 0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:36.000 was probably more undocumented. And uh, it wasn't until later 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:39.000 in two thousand seven in Micronesia that they had sort 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:42.400 of the first large outbreak, which was forty nine cases, 0:03:43.040 --> 0:03:45.680 which isn't even that much. And then in two thousand 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:51.280 fourteen in French Polynesia, nineteen thousand suspected cases. And then 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:55.000 now this one is much much bigger. Yeah, something like UM. 0:03:55.360 --> 0:04:00.520 I again, I was really pressed to find hard figures, 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:04.000 but it looks like something like a million people have 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:10.440 been infected with ZEKA worldwide since UM two thousand fifteen 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:14.160 is when this outbreak officially started. And it's shown up 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:17.200 in sixty seven countries since two thousand fifteen, since the 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:22.080 beginning of this outbreak, And yeah, I we need different numbers. 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:24.760 I was counting too, and I came up with fifty eight. 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:26.240 But I was like, it's got to be more than that. 0:04:26.480 --> 0:04:29.440 I saw something in the fifties. I saw sixty seven 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:32.719 I think on the World Health Organization website, which is 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:34.839 why I was I was like, that's probably right. But 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:39.120 while we're we're recording this, literally another country could pop up. Yeah. Actually, 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:42.279 Singapore is in the midst of a new outbreak right now. UM. 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:46.880 As of September, they have three hundred and eighty three 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:53.000 reported locally transmitted cases, right which is pretty significant. But 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:56.680 that's up from fifty four on August twenty nine, So 0:04:56.760 --> 0:04:59.240 less than a month, it's gone from fifty four cases 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:03.799 to eight three. I read actually a posted an article 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:07.359 on our Facebook page yesterday about UM. I think it 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:10.960 may have been from Slate, but the author's uh suggestion 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:12.920 was that there's a lot of apathy in the United 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:16.919 States towards Zeka right now. Um, And then there were 0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:18.680 a bunch of read the comments and a lot of 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:20.960 people a valid points. They are like sort of a 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:25.000 crying wolf situation, like Ebola didn't turn out to be 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:28.080 mad Cow, didn't turn out to be you know, none 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:31.960 of these things turned out to be these devastating pandemics 0:05:32.040 --> 0:05:36.360 here in the US well exactly, so, you know, the 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:40.719 United States has a tendency to be a little US centric. Sure, 0:05:41.120 --> 0:05:44.520 so I think the comments I got from our listeners 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:47.080 at least we're like, you know what, we've heard this before, 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:49.960 and so maybe there is some apathy. There's a huge 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:53.800 fear that that is going to prevent a vaccine from 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:57.080 being developed. That's why there's not an ebola vaccine because 0:05:57.440 --> 0:06:00.839 the outbreak was contained, and every one said, wow, we 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:03.760 don't need to fund we don't need to start funneling 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:09.200 emergency funds towards vaccination research. It's fine, and it stayed 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:12.720 basically in Africa, hit a couple of people in America 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:15.679 and Europe, but for the most part, it's over there, 0:06:16.160 --> 0:06:17.800 so we don't have to worry about it, and they're 0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:19.479 worried that the same thing is going to happen. That 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:23.919 this the end of October, mosquito season is going to 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:27.640 decline and the outbreak is going to naturally in in 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:33.080 step decline as well. Uh And the public will and 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:38.240 public funding for vaccinations, emergency vaccinations against zica is going 0:06:38.320 --> 0:06:41.120 to dry up. The big problem is we're eventually going 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:46.680 to those dire public warnings could eventually come to pass. 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:49.479 It might not have this pastime with the bola, it 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:53.159 might not this time with zeka, but there's there's a 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:57.000 definite possibility that it could happen, and we're gonna be like, man, 0:06:57.080 --> 0:06:59.520 I really wish we would have stuck with it ten 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:01.560 years ago. Oh and we had the chance to develop 0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:05.000 a ZECA vaccine. Yeah, it's um it's a really narrow line. 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:08.200 I think that with media reporting on stuff like a 0:07:08.279 --> 0:07:12.880 ban flu and mad cow and uh two get people 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:16.840 fired up and scared and preach fear or to you know, 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:19.600 for people to know that there is a really good 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:22.040 chance that this could be bad. Yeah, if it's not, 0:07:22.120 --> 0:07:24.960 then great, But then turn around and say, well, you've 0:07:24.960 --> 0:07:28.080 got scared over nothing. Like people should say, well, that's 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:32.040 wonderful news that it was smaller than we thought. But yes, 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:34.320 you can lay a certain amount of the blame for 0:07:34.360 --> 0:07:36.560 this at the at the feet of the media, for 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:40.000 for drumming up fear for ratings, and we should say 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:42.680 that's not at all our intention with this. No, we're 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:48.320 perfectly happy with our ratings normally UM and we I 0:07:48.360 --> 0:07:53.280 think if it goes to say, there's most public health 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:59.000 officials are not panicking about this thing UM and and 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:03.400 zekea itself is even like a pretty um, pretty mild disease. 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:07.600 The problem is, and the reason the World Health Organization 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:13.840 created a Global Health Emergency UM alert, they put everybody 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:17.160 on high alert UH and started funneling money and attention 0:08:17.160 --> 0:08:22.280 towards Zeka is because there's a cluster of microcephaly in Brazil, 0:08:22.880 --> 0:08:26.480 which is basically ground zero for this most recent UM outbreak. 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:30.560 And they're they're saying, now, there's there hasn't been any 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:35.079 direct evidence, but there's so much correlation between being infected 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:38.920 with the zeke virus wild pregnant and having a baby 0:08:39.000 --> 0:08:44.959 with microcephaly afterward UM that they're like, yes, Zeca causes microcephaly. 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:47.520 Basically is the point we're at. Yeah, well let's let's 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:50.160 jump back a little bit. So if you get ZEKA, 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:54.920 only of the people infected will show any symptoms at all. 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:57.920 And these symptoms just so you're looking out for them, 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:02.000 which is always good to do. Fever, red eyes, joint pain, 0:09:02.559 --> 0:09:06.880 bumpy rash, what else you can have muscle pain and headache. 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:11.240 Those apparently are less common symptoms. Um, but that's that's 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:14.320 about it. And and like you said, I think four 0:09:14.440 --> 0:09:17.960 fits of people who have ZEKA are not going to 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:21.240 show symptoms, and the ones who do have symptoms probably 0:09:21.280 --> 0:09:23.040 they're not going to be bad enough to even go 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:25.600 to the doctor for. Yeah, they only last a few 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:29.560 days to a week, and um, it's it's not something 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:31.920 that will kill you. And I think that's another reason 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:34.800 that a lot of people have apathy is because it 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:40.199 has such a narrow, uh focus of harm, which is 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:45.800 specifically right now at least largely pregnant women's babies. That 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:47.880 and then there's one other thing that it's been linked to, 0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:53.160 although not quite as conclusively, is U Barre syndrome, which 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:57.440 is a really bizarre and mysterious disorder that comes out 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:02.720 of nowhere where your um immune system attacks your the 0:10:02.840 --> 0:10:06.840 nerves in your body and can leave you paralyzed at worse, 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:12.680 but even milder on the spectrum, UM can leave you 0:10:13.480 --> 0:10:17.800 laid up, bedridden, un a ventilator. Yeah. And the the 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:20.000 idea that they don't have any idea where it comes 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:24.800 from is very unsettling. Yeah. And right now they've made 0:10:24.800 --> 0:10:28.240 a much stronger correlation with the microcephaly than I have 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:33.120 the G B s UM. Because I'm going to try 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:36.679 and pronounce that again A bar A. Yeah, it sounds easy. 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:38.520 I know that because there's a there's a stuff you 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:40.839 should know. Listen to remember the guy who's get well 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:44.040 card we we filled out UM and I tweeted there's 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:46.360 like a I think a go fund me to too, 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:53.240 like get a wheelchair access vane is laid up. His 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:55.040 name is John Say. He lives here in Atlanta. He's 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:57.800 a great guy. You can chip in for John if 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:01.040 you want to UM. You can search John Say s 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:04.439 A y E on go fund me dot com or 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:08.440 go to go fund me dot com slash to j 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:13.800 h X eight y K. But I should say he 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:16.880 didn't get it from Zeka UM. But he has the 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:19.240 bar and they have no idea where it came from. 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:22.200 But all of a sudden one day, your immune system 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:26.839 just turns on your nerves when you're in trouble. Amazing. Yeah. Uh, 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:30.280 all right, so let's talk a little bit about microcephi um. 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:34.520 It is a birth defect. H It's the characterization mainly 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:37.360 is that your baby will have a very small head 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:41.000 and as a result, in under developed brain or I 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:43.960 don't know as a result, but those two things happen. Well, 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:47.079 they think what happens is that the virus attacks stem 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:54.319 cells in the developing brain and ends up UM preventing 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:57.920 the brain from developing properly. And they think it's also 0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:03.839 possible it's simultaneously attacks um structural proteins in the brain, 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:08.199 so the existing tissue that's already been developed can can 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:13.160 be destabilized, and then the stuff that's developing, uh, doesn't 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:16.360 have a chance to develop correctly, in which case you 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:19.480 you have babies born with like a lot of parts 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:23.160 of their brain missing. Right. Yeah, and um, I read 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:27.319 this one interview on It was the MPR interview. Yeah, 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:30.120 it was from NPR and their health correspondent Rob stein 0:12:30.920 --> 0:12:33.520 Um was talking about kind of like he went and 0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:37.440 visited Brazil and visited these babies and he said, you know, 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:40.120 he said it was devastating and that some of the 0:12:40.120 --> 0:12:43.240 new research they published some brain scan images from a 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:48.000 bunch of these Brazilian babies, and um, some they found 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:52.000 some really weird things. Uh, entire portions of their nervous 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:55.439 systems are missing just not there, like parts of the 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:59.800 brain stem, parts of the spinal cord. And then sometimes 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:03.720 in some cases, uh, you think the baby is okay, 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:08.880 and then they're born and then you realize that parts 0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:11.840 of the brain are like full of fluid, so it 0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:13.920 has puffed up the brain so it looks like it's 0:13:13.920 --> 0:13:16.400 a normal size and like a scan or something, right, Yeah, 0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:19.480 but there's you know, severe brain damage going on. Right, 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:22.760 and so this leads to things like seizures, developmental delay, 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:29.240 intellectual disabilities, UM, problems with moving around or balance difficulties, swallowing, 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:34.920 hearing loss, vision problems, um. And typically this is it's irreversible. 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:38.760 What that happens. Yeah, and super sad. He uh. He 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:42.000 talks about the cries of these babies. He said they 0:13:42.080 --> 0:13:45.280 cry more, and not only more, but he said it's 0:13:45.320 --> 0:13:47.920 a really you know, if you have a baby, you 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:49.920 know they're different. Cries mean different things and one of 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:55.000 the keys to figure out what's what and um, these cries, 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:58.839 he said, are just abnormal, and that they sound like 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:03.199 anguishing pain is going on, and they're much harder to soothe. 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:06.240 So that's just like heartbreaking stuff, it is. And so 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:10.400 you can understand why, uh, couples who are planning on 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:15.520 getting pregnant, women who are pregnant um are just scared 0:14:15.520 --> 0:14:19.240 to death of this, the idea of of contracting ZEKA. 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:23.160 Sure they found that, Uh, at first they thought that 0:14:23.240 --> 0:14:27.360 the first trimester UM was the most dangerous point, but 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:30.200 now apparently after further study, they're like, yeah, there's really 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:34.520 no safe point in a pregnancy UM where you could 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:37.520 get a ZECA infection and probably be protected. Yeah. And 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:39.520 I think they're airing on the side of caution because 0:14:39.560 --> 0:14:42.680 they're still so early in the game. They don't want 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:44.960 to say like, nope, just the first trimester, like they're 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:46.960 kind of saying, we don't know, it could be anytime 0:14:47.040 --> 0:14:52.320 during the pregnancy UM. And he the the NPR correspondent 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:55.720 was he couched the whole thing and saying like he 0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:59.080 wasn't he wasn't raising public fears. I think he did 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:00.720 it in the right way. He said, we don't know 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:02.960 what this one's gonna look like. He said, it could 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:07.280 just die out again and be a medium sized outbreak 0:15:07.320 --> 0:15:09.120 that goes away, he said, or it could be worse. 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:12.960 We just gotta like be responsible and see what happens. Yeah, 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:16.520 and they were saying, also, chuck the um. The estimates 0:15:16.560 --> 0:15:21.400 of the incidents of microcephily that come from zekea so 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:26.160 far is between like one and which is an enormous 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:29.680 increase in the incidents of microcepily because it's apparently a 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:37.160 fairly uncommon um disorder and something like UM twelve babies 0:15:37.280 --> 0:15:40.680 per ten two to twelve babies per ten thousand berths 0:15:40.720 --> 0:15:47.400 in the United States, UM are born with microceptile normally 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:52.160 between two and twelve per ten thousand births. If one percent, 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:56.800 just one percent of women who contracts ZECA give birth 0:15:56.840 --> 0:16:00.120 to a baby with microceffily, that's like ten times is 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:02.680 the normal rate. And that's the low end of the estimate. 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:07.440 So again, like yeah, if you're just some dude, some 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:13.000 bachelor who's like, you know, hanging around uh, Margarita Ville, 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:16.600 and you get stung by a mosquito UM and you 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:21.080 can track ZEKA and you don't even have symptoms. Who cares? Well, 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:25.160 the idea that you that somebody else could have a 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:28.280 baby with microceftly, that's who cares. That's just making this 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:30.960 a public health emergency, you know. All right, Well, let's 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:32.760 take a quick break and we'll get back and talk 0:16:32.840 --> 0:17:05.000 a little bit about how it is spread. All right, Josh, 0:17:05.040 --> 0:17:09.840 you mentioned mosquitoes. We've kind of danced around it, or 0:17:09.880 --> 0:17:12.000 maybe we already said, but we'll go ahead and say 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:17.120 it now, yellow fever mosquitoes. Uh, the adies and gyp 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:22.399 tie there you go, that's the little bugger responsible. Uh, 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:25.320 they're responsible not just for yellow fever and zica but 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:31.520 also den gae and um, chicken guna too, which is delicious. 0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:36.399 Again you're thinking of chicken tonight and only certain chicken 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:40.720 tonight's too. Um. Did we talk We did a really 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:43.840 good podcast. I remember our mosquitoes. It was great. But 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:47.040 did we talk about I Now we talked a little bit, 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:48.879 but I can't remember we landed on the idea of 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:54.000 eradicating them outright? And are they one of those that 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:55.840 we can get rid of? And it doesn't have some 0:17:55.880 --> 0:17:58.600 big ripple effect. We can't say that we could get 0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:02.399 rid of anything any species of anything wholesale and not 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:05.800 have really detrimental effects. But in the mosquito one of 0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:10.000 those that people like researchers think we might well, yeah, 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:12.439 get rid of without losing you know, it's not like 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:17.119 losing the honeybee. There there are some serious proposals to 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:20.919 get rid of mosquitoes as as part of treating Zeka. 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:24.080 I just hope that's the case. I hate him. I 0:18:24.119 --> 0:18:26.320 hate him. I hate him. Oh that we get rid 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:28.520 of them, Yeah, I think it would be great. They 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:32.359 carry I mean, beyond the stupid nuisance that you know, 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:35.480 I you know, my privileged self feels at my house. 0:18:35.920 --> 0:18:38.160 I'm talking about, you know, in countries where they spread 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:41.080 serious disease. It's a real, real problem. It is a 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:43.160 real problem, and so I guess we might as well 0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:45.720 talk about this. There's there's a couple of proposals that 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:51.119 the World Health Organization UM, who right, are that was 0:18:51.160 --> 0:18:54.240 good though you almost got me. They're they're looking into 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:56.439 and are planning on deploying and are actually there's some 0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:59.119 pilot projects. One of them we talked about in the 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:05.040 Mosquito episode, which was UM releasing transgenic mosquitoes into the wild. 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:10.920 And so these things carry a genetic artificially inserted genetic 0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:16.600 um mutation that prevents their offspring from surviving to maturity 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:20.479 and therefore they're unable to reproduce. Right, So you release 0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:24.840 these genetically ulter mosquitoes into the wild and after several generations, 0:19:25.119 --> 0:19:29.000 the mosquito population starts to die off. Wonderful, there's one. 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:31.760 There's a there's a test pilot by this UM, this 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:36.120 company called ox a Tech working out of UM, England, 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:40.119 I believe, I'm not quite sure exactly where, but they 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:43.639 created a genetically modified mosquito back in two two and 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:48.880 part of the project UM, part of the proving test experiment, 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:52.200 I think that's what they call it. There's there's ellipses 0:19:52.240 --> 0:19:56.640 and everything to indicate the pauses. But UM they released 0:19:56.720 --> 0:20:00.679 some in Sal Paulo, Brazil as part of a pilot 0:20:00.680 --> 0:20:05.920 project in April last year. In January of this year, 0:20:06.280 --> 0:20:08.560 there had been an eighty two percent reduction in wild 0:20:08.560 --> 0:20:11.640 mosquito larva. Let's do it so it works. The problem 0:20:11.760 --> 0:20:16.800 is is I think that is the pinnacle of human hubris, 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:19.200 the idea that we can just get rid of an 0:20:19.320 --> 0:20:22.959 entire species and there not be some sort of ripple effect. 0:20:22.960 --> 0:20:25.440 That we couldn't foresee that. We're gonna be like, oh, 0:20:25.720 --> 0:20:30.000 we shouldn't have done that. There's an alternative one. So, yes, 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:32.919 you're inconvenience right when you're stung by a mosquito and 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:37.479 it sucks. I see that was an accident. All right, 0:20:38.600 --> 0:20:42.680 there's But the bigger problem is for for people who 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:46.440 are like suffering and dying from diseases like malaria or 0:20:46.520 --> 0:20:49.360 dana feb or something like that. Well, there's an alternative 0:20:49.520 --> 0:20:52.560 to getting rid of mosquitoes, and it's actually treating mosquitoes 0:20:52.800 --> 0:20:57.159 with something called Walbaccia, which is a bacteria that infects 0:20:57.200 --> 0:21:01.080 the gut of a mosquito and actually prevents the zecra 0:21:01.200 --> 0:21:05.080 virus from um living there. Okay, so you've still got 0:21:05.160 --> 0:21:08.880 the mosquito. Yeah, so you're not completely altering the ecosystem. 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:11.800 I'm still inconvenience, but lives are being saved. But you're 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:15.000 getting right, which is what really matters exactly. Yeah, So 0:21:15.080 --> 0:21:17.199 that one seems to me like a little smarter, and 0:21:17.240 --> 0:21:19.480 they're they're working on that too. They've released a bunch 0:21:19.560 --> 0:21:25.440 in Brazil and so these um uh artificially infected mosquitoes 0:21:25.480 --> 0:21:28.800 go out and um they infect other mosquitoes out in 0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:30.800 the wild, and pretty soon, all of a sudden, Zeke 0:21:30.960 --> 0:21:34.200 is like, oh man, I remember the good times and 0:21:34.240 --> 0:21:38.439 they're gone. Well, it seems like the mosquito is one 0:21:38.480 --> 0:21:41.199 that they could probably research enough to see if it 0:21:41.200 --> 0:21:43.639 would have an impact if it left us. But off 0:21:43.680 --> 0:21:46.560 the top of my head, I'm thinking, well, bats eat mosquitoes, 0:21:47.280 --> 0:21:49.600 and all of a sudden, you're taking away the food 0:21:49.600 --> 0:21:52.199 source from an animal that we love. Ham that's just 0:21:52.320 --> 0:21:54.520 off the top of your head. But then you think, like, 0:21:54.640 --> 0:21:56.680 but do they need mosquitoes or they just like, well, 0:21:57.119 --> 0:21:59.320 well they're there, I'll eat them, or would they just 0:21:59.359 --> 0:22:01.679 move on something else? But then do they decimate some 0:22:01.720 --> 0:22:04.120 other thing that might be useful? You know, I get 0:22:04.119 --> 0:22:08.320 the ripples they're going after house cats while they already 0:22:08.320 --> 0:22:13.080 do that. Yes, there's a real possibility for a ripple 0:22:13.119 --> 0:22:18.160 effect that that would have catastrophic unforeseen consequences. And also, 0:22:18.760 --> 0:22:22.760 I mean, I am totally for getting rid of mosquitoes. 0:22:23.240 --> 0:22:26.359 If we know for certain that there wouldn't be that 0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:29.360 ripple effect, I'd be on board. I go out there 0:22:29.400 --> 0:22:32.520 and start squashing them myself. Yeah, but I think what 0:22:32.560 --> 0:22:34.359 you're saying is is that there's no way to know 0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:37.399 for certain, which is you know it's valid. Yeah. So 0:22:37.480 --> 0:22:39.399 one thing about this mosquito, and I know you know 0:22:39.480 --> 0:22:41.520 a bit more than me about how it's transmitted. But 0:22:41.600 --> 0:22:45.440 looking at the this guy, this particular yellow fever mosquito, 0:22:45.680 --> 0:22:49.000 h it has white markings on the leg. And like 0:22:49.080 --> 0:22:52.399 all mosquitoes, uh, they're active in the morning, in the evening, 0:22:52.480 --> 0:22:54.600 tend to die down a bit in the heat of 0:22:54.600 --> 0:22:57.120 the day, and then at night, you know, go off 0:22:57.160 --> 0:23:00.359 and hide. Right, But how does it actually trans met 0:23:00.720 --> 0:23:04.520 beyond just sticking that needle in? So I guess some 0:23:04.600 --> 0:23:08.760 mosquito got ahold of Reese's seven six six one day 0:23:08.960 --> 0:23:12.520 or something some other carrier like that, and the mosquito 0:23:12.560 --> 0:23:15.720 itself becomes infected, although it doesn't have as far as 0:23:15.720 --> 0:23:18.600 we know, any symptoms from ZEKA. Oh. Interesting, So it's 0:23:18.600 --> 0:23:22.040 not just that it's carrying the infected blood. They're act Yeah. 0:23:22.480 --> 0:23:24.800 And and that's a big point because if a mosquito 0:23:24.920 --> 0:23:29.960 comes and sucks your blood, um, it's not transmitting any 0:23:30.000 --> 0:23:32.560 of its own blood in there. So when it sucks 0:23:32.600 --> 0:23:36.720 your blood and you have zeca, right, the mosquito puts 0:23:36.760 --> 0:23:42.520 its what thank you man? That one that in deleterious 0:23:42.520 --> 0:23:46.000 always elude me. When it puts its proboscus in your 0:23:46.000 --> 0:23:49.359 skin to suck out your blood, it also salivates in 0:23:49.400 --> 0:23:54.560 there right, which is like an anesthetizes you. And if 0:23:54.600 --> 0:23:57.320 you have zeka, that zekea goes from your blood into 0:23:57.359 --> 0:24:02.280 the mosquito's gut, where the zeka um begins to colonize 0:24:02.320 --> 0:24:05.159 the mosquito, infect the mosquito, and ultimately it makes it 0:24:05.200 --> 0:24:08.600 into its salivary glance. So when when that mosquito in 0:24:08.720 --> 0:24:13.600 searches proboscis into the next person's arm, it uses the 0:24:13.600 --> 0:24:16.280 saliva rus to say she, because it's always a female 0:24:16.320 --> 0:24:22.480 mosquito that bites you. She um uses salivaty to anesthetize 0:24:22.800 --> 0:24:26.720 your arm, and that's where the zeka gets into you. Okay, 0:24:26.760 --> 0:24:32.680 Because they have found that the virus lives in saliva, yeah, 0:24:32.720 --> 0:24:34.720 that's a big deal. But they're not you know, they're 0:24:34.720 --> 0:24:39.080 still trying to figure out like exactly all the ways 0:24:39.119 --> 0:24:41.720 it could be transmitted. Um. They found it in saliva, 0:24:41.800 --> 0:24:45.920 they know it can be transmitted through um well through 0:24:46.040 --> 0:24:51.080 sexy time. It can live in semen for seemingly longer 0:24:51.080 --> 0:24:53.560 than in blood. Yeah, so when it's in your blood. 0:24:53.560 --> 0:24:55.959 It stays there for like a week and then they're like, Okay, 0:24:56.000 --> 0:24:58.400 where's it go. Obviously it stays in the body because 0:24:58.400 --> 0:25:00.720 they did find it and some guys see mean, was 0:25:00.720 --> 0:25:03.520 it like ten weeks after he was infected with zeka 0:25:04.560 --> 0:25:07.040 um And they know that you can get it sexually 0:25:07.160 --> 0:25:10.560 and through mosquitoes, but they've also found it in saliva um, 0:25:10.760 --> 0:25:15.920