Just days after news broke that the Zika virus—a mosquito-born disease currently spreading across Latin America—has arrived on U.S. soil in the form of three new confirmed cases in Florida and two more in Illinois, the virus has also reportedly been discovered in Israel.
In the Israeli case, a toddler was reportedly infected with the virus while on a trip to Colombia. While there is no vaccine or treatment for the virus, the child is recovering and has been released from the hospital.
On its own, the Zika virus rarely causes serious symptoms, but it is suspected to be causing a severe birth defect called microcephaly, which makes it particularly dangerous for pregnant women and their fetuses. Israel’s Health Ministry issued a recommendation to all pregnant women to avoid travel to countries affected by the virus, adding that pregnant women who cannot avoid such trips should consult with an infectious diseases expert or a travelers’ clinic, Israel Hayom reported.
Last week, the U.S. issued a similar travel advisory calling on pregnant women to delay trips to Latin American and Caribbean countries.
JNS.ORG
{Matzav.com Newscenter}
I first warned about the dangers of the Zika virus three months ago. The disastrous outbreak of microcephaly over the last three months in Brazil which has seen more than 3900 babies born with the condition is proof that my warnings were spot on.
I have been pointing out to the Israelis and other nationalities the danger of various dis-eases like AFP Polio, Ebola, MERS, Swine Flu, Bird Flu and Zika since late 2013. (But many people have not listened. Many Israelis think they know everything. They will not heed good advice when it is offered. For some reason they will only act at the very last moment as the tsunami wave is hitting the shore.)
Zika and thus microcephaly is a real threat to the Israelis and Palestinians. The Aedes albopictus Mosquito aka the Asian Tiger Mosquito which can carry Zika, Dengue and Chikungunya is now rampant throughout all of Israel, the West Bank/Judea & Samaria and Gaza. Its peak season is from mid-March to early November. People also forget that mosquitoes and other bugs like locusts have infested the Holy Land from time to time since Abraham was a boy. (Look up all the great work Israel Kliger did on the malaria front in the early twentieth century.)
There are now more than the 42 species of mosquitoes mentioned in the following study by an Israeli scientist in 1974. Many of these mosquitoes can act as vectors for Zika.
http://ww.w.mosquitocatalog.org/files/pdfs/083900-0.pdf
How will the Israeli public handle the birth of babies with microcephaly to mothers of all Jewish religious and economic levels in early 2016/mid 5776 ? It would be like a modern day version of the tenth plague, the death of the newborn nu. (מַכַּת בְּכוֹרוֹת Ex. 11:1-12:36). Do not dismiss this scenario. It’s a very interconnected world these days. (Also, haven’t the Israeli people been through enough plagues the last six months ? The hits just keep on coming but some people will not learn.)
Thus the Israeli Ministry of Health should be on the front foot now. In the past week already the CDC in the USA and the Canadian MOH have issued travel warnings for pregnant women due to the threat of Zika. But the whole issue of global dis-ease threat must be addressed now.
What move should be made now to counter the regional and global dis-ease threat ?
The Israelis and Palestinians should agree to organise the “International Peace Conference 2016 – Special Focus on Syria and Health” IPC2016 ASAP. This event will provide a space whereby the regional and global dis-ease issue is put on the table. i.e. Various nations and agencies to agree to co-operate on virus monitoring, gene sequencing, analysis and corrective interventions and modalities for such dis-ease threats as : Zika; Bird Flu; Swine Flu; MERS; Leishmaniasis etc.
Let’s see how wise various “leaders” are now regarding the dis-ease threat. Maybe the dis-ease threat in early 2016 is like a scene you could imagine in a sci-fi movie where the fighters are battling each other with presumptuous arrogance about their relative importance and then out of the blue a huge monster alien turns up who sweeps them all away with a contemptuous flick of his wrist.
P.S. For some strange reason the epicentre of the Zika – Microcephaly outbreak in Brazil has been the city of Recife, Pernambuco State. Recife was the home of the late Eduardo Campos…