Mosquito control No Mo

[Neil Jones]

On Sunday 08 May 2005 17:03, Patrick Foley wrote:
> Ron,
>
> The problems posed by mosquito control and its environmental side
> effects are enormous. There is a big but biased literature, written
> mostly by mosquito control workers, not by Lepidopterists or aquatic
> entomologists. This is an inevitable source of bias, just as papers
> written by butterfly enthusiasts inevitable show some bias towards
> butterfly preservation. That does not mean the science is done wrong in
> either case, but it is certainly worth noting what journal a paper comes
> from. Hribar's 41 page paper was reviewed by whom? Published by whom?
> (These are rhetorical questions, Ron.)

Hribar has been known to make statments which most conservationists would see 
to be biased against conserving animals like the miami blue. Tou don't 
survive easily in an industry like that unless your views fit in.
Of course as you say the science may still be good. However, given' Ron 
Gatrelle's long history of mssing the obvious other conclusion and  
conspiracising I am reluctant to take his word.

> Perhaps it is worth noting that there are hundreds of nontarget aquatic
> insect larvae that will be affected by almost any mosquito control
> technique. My guess is that the real mosquito control danger is not to
> butterflies but to aquatic invertebrates, including other insects,
> crabs, etc. Some of this is already documented. Most of it is not even
> being monitored by the Florida Mosquito Control Association, or by anybody.
>
> I am not saying we should have no mosquito control efforts. I am saying
> that there are trade-offs. Cost-benefit calculations are especially
> appropriate when much of the Florida mosquito control effort is targeted
> against mosquitos of little public health concern. This is not a
> conspiracy of environmentalist activist scientists to kill off Florida
> tourists. It may be mostly just question about how much environmental
> degradation we can tolerate in order to minimize personal inconvenience.
> Please do not attack me for not caring about people's lives. Much of my
> research effort  is on vector-borne disease, (though not on mosquitos).
>
> Patrick
> patfoley at csus.edu

Indeed Patrick the money would perhpas be better spent directly on human 
health. America is a great country and I love to vacation there but many 
Britons will express disgust at their treatment of the sick. One soberting 
statistic I have seen is that the USA. which is the richest country in the 
world, is TWENTYNINTH in the world for infant mortality.


--
Neil Jones- Neil at nwjones.demon.co.uk 


 
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