Tying the Silken Threads

2021 ◽  
pp. 237-246
Author(s):  
Robert N. Wiedenmann ◽  
J. Ray Fisher
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
The United States ◽  
Insect Species ◽  
Human History ◽  
Common Thread ◽  
Louisiana Purchase

This chapter considers the five insects highlighted in this book and a common thread they all share, linked by the Silk Roads of Asia. All have had immeasurable impacts on human history, both positive and negative, though numerous other insect species also have stories to tell. As this chapter shows, the stories of all five insects in this book converge in their influence on the life and legacy of Napoleon, who wore silk clothes, was impacted by the diseases vectored by fleas and mosquitoes, and took honey bees as his emblem. The vectors of diseases were particularly impactful, and three species feature in decisive battles lost by Napoleon: fleas carrying plague defeated his expeditionary force in Egypt and Syria; mosquitos carrying yellow fever forced the withdrawal of French forces in Haiti; and human lice carrying typhus defeated the Grand Armée in Russia. Following their defeat and withdrawal from Haiti, the French sold their American land to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase. As this chapter shows: never doubt for a moment that insects have shaped history in ways that are usually not seen.

Microbial communities associated with honey bees in Brazil and in the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise de Oliveira Scoaris ◽  
Frederic Mendes Hughes ◽  
Milton Adolfo Silveira ◽  
Jay Daniel Evans ◽  
Jeffery Stuart Pettis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
The United States

The yellow fever 17D vaccine and risk of malignant melanoma in the United States military

Vaccine ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (30) ◽  
pp. 4476-4479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meredith Hodges-Vazquez ◽  
James P. Wilson ◽  
Hayley Hughes ◽  
Patrick Garman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Malignant Melanoma ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Military

‘KILLER BEES’ BLAMED IN TEXAS MAN'S DEATH

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-118
Author(s):  
J. F. L.
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cause Of Death ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
The United States ◽  
South Texas ◽  
First Person ◽  
Department Of Agriculture ◽  
Federal Department ◽  
Africanized Bees ◽  
Insect Stings

Harlington, TX, July 19 (AP)—Federal agricultural officials say that the honey bees that killed an 82-year-old rancher last week were the Africanized variety known as "killer bees." "Our lab has confirmed that the bees are Africanized," said Kim Kaplan, a Spokeswoman for the Federal Department of Agriculture in Greenbelt, MD. Final autopsy results are not yet available, but the pathologist who did the autopsy listed the preliminary cause of death as acute fluid buildup in the lungs caused by insect stings. If the cause of death is confirmed, the rancher, Lino Lopex, would be the first person killed by Africanized bees in the United States since the aggressive variety migrated into Texas in 1990. Harlington, TX, in South Texas, is about 15 miles from the Mexican border. Mr. Lopez apparently tried to drive the bees out of a wall in an abandoned house by poking the hive with a stick wrapped with a burning burlap sack. He was dead on arrival at the hospital, with about 40 stingers still attached to his body, officials said.

scholarly journals International risk of yellow fever spread from the ongoing outbreak in Brazil, December 2016 to May 2017

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (28) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria Dorigatti ◽  
Arran Hamlet ◽  
Ricardo Aguas ◽  
Lorenzo Cattarino ◽  
Anne Cori ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
Quantitative Assessment ◽  
The United States ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Eastern Brazil ◽  
Local Transmission

States in south-eastern Brazil were recently affected by the largest Yellow Fever (YF) outbreak seen in a decade in Latin America. Here we provide a quantitative assessment of the risk of travel-related international spread of YF indicating that the United States, Argentina, Uruguay, Spain, Italy and Germany may have received at least one travel-related YF case capable of seeding local transmission. Mitigating the risk of imported YF cases seeding local transmission requires heightened surveillance globally.

The Challenge of Limits

1993 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garrett Hardin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Waste Disposal ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Population ◽  
Human History ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Earth Day ◽  
The Mind

A funny thing happened on the way to the second nationwide Earth Day in 1990. Twenty years earlier the first Earth Day had been saluted with much talk about population problems. At that time world population stood at 3.6 billion. But when the second Earth Day rolled around, the topic of population was almost completely ignored. Was that because world population had stopped growing? Hardly: in the intervening two decades it had increased 47 percent to an estimated 5.3 billion— an increase of 1.7 billion (more than six times the present population of the United States). Common sense tells us that the per capita share of environmental riches must decrease as population numbers increase, and waste disposal necessarily becomes an ever greater problem. Of course common sense is sometimes wrong. But if that is so in this instance, the celebrants of the 1990 Earth Day should have been shouting, "We've found the secret of perpetual growth!" A few incurable optimists did defend this position, but most people lumped their claims with those of the flat earthers, ignoring both. The celebrants were generally silent about the 47 percent increase in population. Why? The answer comes in two parts, the first being historical. It is now known that the planners of Earth Day 1990 were under economic pressure to leave population out of the picture. When directors of philanthropic foundations and business concerns were solicited for financial support they let it be known that they would not look kindly on a population emphasis. Money talks, silence can be bought. (Why the bankrollers shied at population will become clear later.) The second aspect of the answer is more subtle. It has long been recognized that some of our most deeply held views are not neat, precise propositions but broadly "global" attitudes that act as the gatekeepers of the mind, letting in only those propositions that do not challenge the dominant picture of reality. Germans call such gatekeeper attitudes Weltanschauungen, an impressive mouthful that is quite adequately translated as "worldviews." For all but the last few hundred years of human history the dominant worldview was a limited view: resources were limited, human nature was fixed, and spending beyond one's income was a sin. This essentially conservative perception prevailed until about 1600.

scholarly journals The Effects of Japanese Encephalitis Vaccine and Accelerated Dosing Scheduling on the Immunogenicity of the Chimeric Yellow Fever Derived Tetravalent Dengue Vaccine: A Phase II, Randomized, Open-Label, Single-Center Trial in Adults Aged 18 to 45 Years in the United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 221 (7) ◽  
pp. 1057-1069 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Glass ◽  
Mark Polhemus ◽  
Dongliang Wang ◽  
Richard G Jarman ◽  
Stephen J Thomas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
T Cells ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
Phase Ii ◽  
Cd8 T Cells ◽  
The United States ◽  
Single Center ◽  
Dengue Vaccine ◽  
Open Label ◽  
Dosing Schedule

Abstract Background Dengue is a global health problem requiring an effective, safe dengue vaccine. Methods We report the results of a phase II, randomized, open-label, single-center trial in adults aged 18 to 45 years in the United States designed to explore the effects of the Chimeric Yellow Fever Derived Tetravalent Dengue Vaccine (CYD-TDV, Dengvaxia) when administered on its designated schedule (months 0, 6, and 12) or on an accelerated dosing schedule (months 0, 2, and 6) and/or given before, or concomitantly with, a vaccine against Japanese encephalitis (JE). Results Based on dengue virus serotype-specific neutralizing antibody (NAb), the accelerated dosing schedule was comparable to the 0, 6, and 12-month schedule. Giving JE vaccine concurrently with CYD-TDV did not result in an increase in overall NAb titers. Immunophenotyping of peripheral blood mononuclear cells revealed an increase in activated CD8+ T cells after CYD-TDV vaccination, a phenomenon that was greatest for the JE vaccine primed. Conclusions We conclude that an accelerated dosing schedule of CYD-TDV results in essentially equivalent dengue serotype-specific NAb titers as the currently used schedule, and there may be an early benefit in antibody titers and activated CD8+ T cells by the administration of the JE vaccine before CYD-TDV vaccination.

Sowing the Seeds of Neo-Imperialism: The Rockefeller Foundation's Yellow Fever Campaign in Mexico

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 529-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armando Solórzano
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
Rockefeller Foundation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
The People ◽  
Mexican State ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
Southern Border ◽  
By Products

The Rockefeller Foundation's campaign against yellow fever in Mexico sought to advance the economic and political interests of U.S. capitalism. The campaign was implemented at a time of strong anti-American sentiments on the part of the Mexican people. With no diplomatic relationships between Mexico and the United States, the Rockefeller Foundation presented its campaign as an international commitment. Thus, Foundation doctors became the most salient U.S. diplomats. At the same time they made sure that the Mexican yellow fever would not spread to the United States through the southern border. The by-products of the campaign went beyond the political arena. Special techniques to combat the vectors allowed the Rockefeller Foundation's brigades to change the anti-American sentiments of the people. When the campaign ended, the Foundation had already set in place the foundation for the modern Mexican health care system. Benefits from the campaign also accrued to President Obregón, who used the campaign to strengthen his position of power. Mexican doctors adopting a pro-American attitude also allied with the Rockefeller Foundation to gain reputation and power within the emerging Mexican State.

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