Ethan A. Huff
Natural News
September 2, 2012

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently engaged in a massive fear mongering campaign that would have everyone in America believe that the so-called West Nile virus (WNv) is spreading uncontrollably like wildfire. Though the CDC admits that only a miniscule percentage of people have even a remote chance of contracting the virus, the agency is still pushing for the mass spraying of cities with toxic pesticides, and actively encouraging people to coat themselves in toxic DEET chemicals to deter mosquitoes.

We recently reported on the misguided efforts of Texas officials to blanket Dallas-area towns and cities with cancer-causing “neuropoisons” as a solution to the supposed WNv crisis (http://www.naturalnews.com), despite the fact that only a few individuals, who were presumably already immunocompromised, died across the state. Now, the agency is continuing its scare campaign by pushing people everywhere to spray their bodies with DEET bug spray, which is potentially even more dangerous that contracting WNv.

DEET can damage the human nervous system

DEET, which is known chemically as N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide, is an insect repellant chemical that was originally developed by the U.S. Army back in 1946, and later made available to consumers in 1957. It is widely used today as the active ingredient in conventional mosquito repellant sprays, and is claimed by many to be a safe, behavior-modifying chemical that does not interfere with human health in any way.

But a 2010 study published in the journal BioMed Central Biology reveals that DEET actually appears to repel mosquitoes and other insects by interfering with the normal function of their nervous systems, rather than just modifying their behavior. Specifically, DEET appears to inhibit a key neurological enzyme, acetylcholinesterase, which is a precursor to the neurotransmitter substance acetylcholine. This inhibiting effect is similar to the one brought about by exposure to toxic nerve gases, or organophosphate insecticides. (http://www.naturalnews.com/029136_deet_toxic.html)

What this means is that the human nervous system is susceptible to neurological damage from DEET exposure as well, which in more extreme cases can mean permanent brain damage or even death. In other words, encouraging the masses to spray themselves with DEET to protect against WNv is akin to telling a person who works in a battery acid factory to preemptively expose himself to equally dangerous neutralizing chemicals just in case he happens to come in contact with the acid chemicals.

Why isn’t the CDC encouraging people to eat immune-boosting superfoods and supplements in order to naturally avoid WNv?

All this sky-spraying and body-spraying advice by the CDC completely neglects any recommendation to the public to actually try to boost their own natural immune systems to avoid WNv infection. A recent CDC announcement put out by CNN explains that only one in 500 mosquitoes is even infected with WNv, and 80 percent of people who get bitten by an infected mosquito will not show any visible symptoms or become sick in any way.

Among the 20 percent that do show symptoms, only about one half of one percent will develop anything close to severe symptoms, and most of these individuals will be over 50 years of age and have already weakened immune systems. When computed statistically, this translates into a virtually zero percent chance that the average person will experience any health problems associated with WNv, should they be among the miniscule few that even contract it in the first place.

Rather than endorse the dousing of the entire population in health-destroying pesticide chemicals and bug sprays, the CDC should instead be advising people to simply fortify their bodies with immune-boosting superfoods like cruciferous vegetables, omega-3 foods and oils, vitamin D, spirulina, and others, which would help naturally prevent WNv infection from gaining hold and manifesting symptoms.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/22/health/west-nile-virus/index.html