Zika Virus Revisited and Government Responses Questioned

Retraction from what I wrote yesterday.  The US has indicated today (3 Feb 2016) that there is at least one patient now that acquired the Zika virus through sexual relations
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-35478967

There continues to be an enormous amount of media coverage creating hype and panic over the Zika virus.  There has been a push in some Latin American countries for abortions to prevent the birth of children who may have been exposed to Zika while in the womb, and suggestions in countries with  known cases for their citizens to not have children for the next several years.  This shows a real ignorance of the virus. 

The response from the governments, especially Brazil, is reminiscent of the panic in the United States during the 1970s and 1980s when it was feared that the world was overpopulated.  That was instigated by the publication of The Population Bomb written by Paul Ehrlich in 1968 advocating immediate action to curb population growth, which he considered a cancer.  Around the same time the US government in a move toward population control suggested families be small and planned.  Under Title X of the Public Health Services Act of 1970 (1), the US government provided (and still provides) different forms of contraception to help maintain planned families.  What are the upsides to a country having smaller populations? Economists are in debate as to whether it helps to keep the country's economy strong, but citizens tend to move toward urban areas, have longer lives, better educations, and better health care. It all sounds great until we learn that it is the poor and marginalized who are the victims of this population control. Starting in 1907 the US saw its first eugenics laws passed in an effort to shape society into an ideal.  It was the marginalized, poor, and those from Mexican or African descent that were targeted for sterilization, especially in California (2).  Population control through contraceptives, abortion, and media pushes to not have children are called the new face of eugenics in the modern era in many circles, and we must consider it especially in light of the responses by governments in fear of the Zika virus.  Aldus Huxley in his Brave New World Revisited cautioned the public, "In politics the equivalent of a fully developed scientific theory or philosophical system is a totalitarian regime.  The Will to Order can make tyrants out of those who merely aspire to clear up a mess.  The beauty of tidiness is used as a justification for despotism.  The future dictator's subjects will be painlessly regimented by a corps of highly trained engineers.  Thanks to technological progress, Big Brother can now be almost as omnipresent as God.  Christ promised to be present where two or three are gathered together.  He did not say anything about being present where thousands are intoxicating one another with herd-poison.  To give organizations precedence over persons is to subordinate ends to means.  What happens when ends are subordinated to means was clearly demonstrated  by Hitler and Stalin." Let us be careful to not lose ourselves as individuals and be suckered into a herd mentality, as economists call it.  Let us carefully watch over our governments and make sure that the policies made are for the greater good, and not social engineering by the elite. 

Referencing:

(1)  http://www.hhs.gov/opa/title-x-family-planning/index.html

(2)  http://www.uvm.edu/~lkaelber/eugenics/CA/CA.html

The most important thing about the Zika virus: don't panic.  It is not contagious, it is transmitted through a certain mosquito. 

The United States of America has confirmed six known cases of patients with the Zika virus in New York, Arkansas, and Virginia.  Separately the California Public Health Department has identified several cases since November. Of those identified in the US, they occurred in people who travelled to Latin America.   And what about the dreaded possibility of microcephaly that supposedly comes with the Zika virus?  It is more common than we realize and even more common than autism in the USA.  The Foundation for Children with Microcephaly is here in the United States. (see link below)  Other countries may have their own support foundations.  I watched a video put out by a journalist in Latin America with microcephaly.  I'm attaching the link here because it is worth watching, especially if you are afraid.

Foundation for Children with Microcephaly     http://childrenwithmicro.org/

Journalist article     http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-35472410

CDC Information on the Zika Virus     http://www.cdc.gov/zika/index.html