FUN NEW DISEASES EVERYDAY

The World Health Organization has recently warned about the rise of chikungunya, which is the third time this month that it has come up in either my newsfeed or my conversations. My conversations are different than yours. Chikungunya is a virus that causes fevers and joint or muscular pains similar to arthritis, as well as a minor rash. It is mosquito borne in the tropic and subtropic regions. Such as most of Africa, all of South East Asia, California up to the middle of the state including Bakersfield, Fresno, and the Sacramento delta area, and the American illiteracy and syphilis belt (East Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida). It is not common. But now commoner. And likely to become more so.
Seldom fatal, mostly just a pain in the ... muscles and joints.

[My conversations recently have been filled with diseases, haemorragic fevers, illegal cigarettes, pipe tobacco, briar pipe maintenance and restoration, gas lines, raptors and carrion eaters, food, hot sauce, fine cheeses, and the monsoon.]


Naturally I shall not mention chikungunya to my apartment mate. She's on the spectrum big time, has a lively imagination, and the mosquito net has been hung around her bed for pretty much a lifetime now. It keeps out the mosquitoes, who love her. They hate me because I'm Caucasian, a smoker, and filled with peppery goodness from all the chilies.
I probably taste and smell awful.

There are two spare mosquito nets on the closet. Just in case.

I seem to recall being bothered by mosquitoes twice in the last year. They must have been desperate. They did not survive long.

The severe phase of chikungunya lasts more or less a week, and usually does not discomfit the entire body, though symptoms do vary. Most prevalent are fevers and severe aches. Light sensitivity, nausea, and fatigue are common. Milder symptons may be present for one or two months afterwards. Less than one percent of the cases are fatal. Symptomatic treatment is recommended. No specific medicine cures it.


There are a number of similar diseases, and the virus can be transmitted by several different types of mosquitoes.



First and second pipe of the day were both Peterson's; the first filled with Fribourg & Treyer and smoked while outside dodging traffic and defecating dogs and their owners, the other one was enjoyed packed full of Gold Navy Cut Capstan Ready Rubbed after snarfing down a Toisaan taai bau (臺山大包) with Sriracha and a cup of coffee. Because of work on the gas lines, coffee water and the bun had to be heated in the microwave.
Try to imagine what ablutions were like this morning.



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