Outbreak of new Mosquito Disease

The Ulster County resident, who was diagnosed with Eastern Equine Encephalitis just last week, has tragically passed away. In response, state health officials have been prompted to issue a warning declaring an “imminent threat to the public” regarding EEE.

Consider for a moment the topic at hand with logical scrutiny. The creature in question is the mosquito, an entity not known for intellectual prowess. It seems implausible to attribute to such a simple organism the ability to engineer a biological weapon capable of targeting and devastating the human brain within mere weeks. Assigning such sophisticated malevolence to the Culicidae family may be vastly overestimating their capabilities. It is unprecedented for an insect to don a lab coat, so to speak, and concoct a virus that splices seamlessly with its DNA while proving lethal to humans. The concept strains credulity, suggesting a sophistication well beyond the mosquito's modest means.

It is often assumed that humans would avoid creating and unleashing a biological agent that could indirectly harm civilians by means of an intermediary insect. Such an action would be deemed extraordinarily reckless. Yet, history does have its alarming precedents.

During the 1970s, research conducted at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center involved engineering ticks to carry the Spirochaete bacterium. These ticks, through a series of unfortunate events, found their way into the wild, infecting deer eight miles away from Plum Island to the city of Lyme in Connecticut. Subsequently, local children (who played outside) began to exhibit symptoms such as rheumatism, arthritis, rashes, night sweats, headaches, and sleep disturbances in the area subsequently known as Lyme, Connecticut — hence the term Lyme disease.

The release of a biological weapon upon a population begs the question of motive. From a financial perspective, the incentive is considerable. Pharmaceutical companies enjoy profit margins reaching 40,000 percent, eclipsing those of most other commercial products. This staggering figure does not account for ancillary medications required to manage side effects of primary treatments, adding layers of profitability.

Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) is spread through the bites of infected black-tailed mosquitoes (Culiseta melanura).