Outbreak of dengue hits Brazil

by Iva Skoch on

Seriously, are mosquitoes good for anything? I am a believer in the ecosystem and all that, but I could easily support a plan in which mosquitoes would be replaced with some nicer insects.

CNN reports today that Brazil has reported more than 55,000 cases of dengue, which can be a deadly mosquito-borne disease, in the past four months. Dengue has killed 67 people this year in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state. Slightly less than half of the deaths were children under the age of 13.

We don’t know whether the deaths were attributed to the more severe form of dengue, dengue hemorrhagic fever, which can be fatal if unrecognized and not properly treated. With treatment, fatalities due to dengue hemorrhagic fever, which is characterized by abnormal internal or external bleeding, can be less than 1 percent.

Dengue fever, the more common form of dengue, is apparently caused by four closely related viruses. All of them are carried by infected mosquitoes, mainly the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, also known as yellow fever mosquito. Mosquitoes carrying dengue viruses breed in stored, exposed water, including places as shallow as jars, discarded bottles and plant saucers. There are 10 million cases of dengue around the world each year, so this is actually quite common.

Prevention? You have heard it a million times. Wear long sleeves, loose, baggy pants and make sure you’re using good insect repellent. Symptoms? High fever, severe headache, backache, joint pains and eye pain, nausea, vomiting and a rash.

Mosquitoes suck.

Mississippi places moratorium on Mississippi Mud Pies

by Jamie Rhein on

Appalled at Mississippi’s recent status as the least healthy state of all 50, the Mississippi’s State Department of Health, as part of the “Eat Right” initiative, has asked bakery shops and restaurants to remove Mississippi Mud Pies from their menus. When examining the reasons for Mississippi’s slide to last place, beating out Louisiana, last year’s loser, it became clear to state officials that Mississippians’ current health problems began as far back as right after World War II when women stopped following exact recipes as time saving measures.

Throwing cooked hamburger, frozen peas and diced potatoes together in a casserole dish willy nilly with dashes of salt and pepper as seasoning was one thing. Who would eat too much of that? But, when women began layering gooey chocolate cake with chocolate crumb crusts and ice-cream in any old amount, sweet tooths could not be stopped. Like the kudzu that grows thick in Mississippi’s countryside, chocolate has seemed to be taking over. It is not uncommon for even the most sophisticated of eaters to have at least a trace of chocolate on the corner of their mouths from time to time.

The health department is beginning with the Mississippi Mud Pie moratorium to see if that won’t curb some of the state’s chocolate fixation and cut down on obesity since Representative W. T. Mayhall’s bill to ban over-eaters from eating out in restaurants seemed excessive.

The state’s most upscale spas are asking if any unused chocolate could be sent their way as they are expecting a run on chocolate wrap body treatments as Mud Pie addicts attempt to detox. For tourists looking forward to the state’s signature dish, you can pick up complimentary recipe cards at tourist information booths off I-10, I-20 and I-55, but only if you’re leaving Mississippi. You will need to show a driver’s license to prove you are not a Mississippi resident.

Area man surprised to learn entire continent of Africa not engaged in armed conflict

by Aaron Hotfelder on

These days, most of the news coming out of Africa is not good. But one local man was surprised to learn that the entire continent is not actually engaged in armed conflict.

Jeff Patterson, a 36-year-old welder from south Pittsburgh, was speaking to his next-door neighbors on Monday when he was told that the middle-aged couple had just returned from a safari in Africa. Upon hearing this news, witnesses described Patterson’s eyes as “almost popping out of his head,” as his mouth gaped wide in astonishment.

“We told Jeff that we just got back from Tanzania,” said Dave Simms, one of Patterson’s neighbors, “and he yelled, ‘Holy s—!'” Then he asked us if we had to sneak into the country, and how we dodged bullets from ‘all the snipers.’ He really has no idea what he’s talking about.”

When Mrs. Simms told Patterson that they had a “lovely” trip, and mentioned the gorgeous scenery and friendly people they came across, Patterson was flabbergasted.

“You mean you talked to them?” said Patterson, referring to the people of Tanzania. “Weren’t they carrying AK-47’s? Weren’t you afraid they’d shoot?”

As Mr. Simms tried to wrap up the conversation, Patterson inquired as to the couple’s future plans. “You guys going into any more war zones?” he asked. “How about Nicaragua? The Philippines? Poland?”

Mr. Simms was seen shaking his head as he walked away from his neighbor. Witnesses confirm that he could be heard muttering, “Poland? Seriously, Poland?”

Airline mistakenly carries passenger on outside of plane

by Kent Wien on

Passengers have recently complained about their seat assignments and being bumped from first class, but this story just may put everything in perspective.

It seems that 26 year-old Christopher Griffin was taken for the ride of a lifetime while trying to be a good Samaritan. Griffin worked for the Big Creek Fish Company in Egegik, Alaska when a MarkAir Express Cessna 207 landed on the beach near the fish processing plant.

Griffin jumped in his truck to meet the airplane and offload any supplies it may have brought. After unloading about a dozen boxes from the airplane, the pilot started up the single engine Cessna and taxied to the end of the beach.

The plane struggled to turn around the in the muddy sand and the nosewheel became stuck. The pilot then asked for help. It seemed his plan was for Griffin to push down on the horizontal stabilizer at the back of the airplane, which would raise the nosewheel, while the pilot added enough power to get out of the sticky situation.

“Take your hat off, it’s going to get pretty windy!” Griffin recalled the pilot saying. That turned out to be understated a bit.
Griffin obliged and pushed down on the front of the airplane’s stabilizer while facing towards the back of the plane. This effort paid off and the airplane began to move. The stabilizer–the small wing at the back of an airplane–caught him in the abdomen, but he figured the pilot would stop once he was able to get out of the muddy area.

Amazingly, the pilot continued to accelerate until lifting off the ground. Griffin considered letting go even after the airplane was in the air, but decided against it since the “water was too shallow near the beach.”

The plane leveled off and turned back to another beach before landing again. The pilot, who no longer works for MarkAir, jumped out of the airplane and asked Christopher why he didn’t let go.

“Why didn’t you stop?” Chistopher asked.

The pilot then flew Griffin back to his truck–this time inside the plane. The pilot asked him to keep it between the two of them.

FAA spokeswoman Joette Storm said she wasn’t sure what regulation the pilot may have violated. “There’s no safety provisions for a human on the outside of an aircraft. I don’t think it would fall under our regulations.”

The CEO of MarkAir Express, Neil Bergt, tried to play down the hype. “I don’t think it was that much of an incident. No one was hurt and the airplane wasn’t damaged.” Bergt said.

I wonder how many frequent flyer miles would be appropriate for Christopher Griffin when he submited his letter complaining about his treatment. Or did MarkAir Express insist on charging him for the round trip flight?

Woman said her drink was spiked on flight to Thailand

by Jamie Rhein on

According to Anamaree Correia, a former flight attendant, three Australian soldiers wanted to have bit of fun with her on a Jetstar flight from Sydney to Phukhet, Thailand. This wasn’t the flirting kind of fun that leaves you feeling gloriously giddy. This was the giddy that gets you groggy and passed out. Correia said she was sitting next to a soldier with two others in front of her and they must have spiked her water while she trotted off to the toilet. The weird feeling she had in her head after drinking her water wasn’t because of the wine she drank before she drank the water–it was what was in the water.

Whatever was put in the bottle made her pass out and pee on herself, as published in the Herald Sun. Okay, this happened a few days ago, but there hasn’t been any more news about it that I found. Correia didn’t want to press charges at the time of the incident, but I’m wondering, wouldn’t she have gone for a test to find out what was put in the water, if anything? If something was put in my drink, I sure would want to know what it was. Also wouldn’t it be good to stop drink spikers?

The article also doesn’t say if the soldiers were questioned. We’ve posted stories about urine troubles on airplanes before. Add this one to the mix as another hard to believe, but stranger true things have happened, type tale.

What strange things have been found on planes?


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