[Jacob-list] Mosquito battle (was: Good worming information)

[Susan Nielsen]

On Fri, 5 Aug 2005, Christopher Brantley wrote:

> However, I would not encourage bats under any circumstance. With 8 deaths
> due to rabies in the last 17 years, 6 cases were from bat exposures, 1
> racoon exposure, and 1 dog exposure. Bats are notorious for rabies and
> several viral and bacterial pathogens

I think we need to get a little focus on this matter.

The population of the US is about 265 million people just now. You
say that 6 deaths have resulted from bat-transmitted rabies infection
in the last 17 years (I couldn't find that figure, but I'll take your
word for it). Just as a comparative figure, in one year, 1995, there
were 1,000 deaths in the US from malaria, a disease transmitted by
mosquitoes.

A foraging bat can consume between 600 and 1,000 mosquitoes (or other
insects) in one hour.

And know also that bats may be "notorious" for rabies, but notoriety
and fact are not the same thing. Bats are not more likely to be
ill from rabies or to transfer the infection than other mammals. When
bat populations are tested for rabies, about 1/2 of 1% test positive.
Bats, when ill from rabies, tend to exhibit the paralytic form rather
than the agressive form of the disease.

Bats are not a population of rabid attack animals out there in the night
looking for a juicy human throat to bite. Most people are not even
aware that bats are plentiful in the cities as well as the country,
and that they are a common and beneficial part of the neighborhood.
As always, do not handle wild animals. Do not go looking for contact
with them. But don't go in fear of them, either. You have a greater
chance of getting plague, tetanus or botulism than getting rabies from
a bat. More people are killed by city busses. More people win the lottery.

I stand by my bats. The mosquitoes are far more dangerous.

Susan
--
Susan Layne Nielsen, Shambles Workshops      	|"...Gently down the
Beavercreek, OR, USA -- snielsen at orednet.org  	|stream..." -- Anon.
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