What Could Disappear

NY TIMES:

Maps show coastal and low-lying areas that would be permanently flooded, without engineered protection, in three levels of higher seas. Percentages are the portion of dry, habitable land within the city limits of places listed that would be permanently submerged.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/11/24/opinion/sunday/what-could-disappear.html?ref=sunday

BACK IN ACTION

Team Skeeter is back in action working out of an office in DUMBO Brooklyn (which is still recovering from Hurricane Sandy). We're happy to have the wonderful Mary Kerr on board.
More soon,
Jesse

CDC reports West Nile in US is worst on record

2012 West Nile virus update: November 14

From: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/index.htm

As of November 14, 2012, 48 states have reported West Nile virus infections in people, birds, or mosquitoes. A total of 5,128 cases of West Nile virus disease in people, including 229 deaths, have been reported to CDC. Of these, 2,601 (51%) were classified as neuroinvasive disease (such as meningitis or encephalitis) and 2,527 (49%) were classified as non-neuroinvasive disease.

The 5,128 cases reported thus far in 2012 is the highest number of West Nile virus disease cases reported to CDC through the second week in November since 2003. Almost 80 percent of the cases have been reported from 12 states (Texas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Illinois, South Dakota, Michigan, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Colorado, Arizona, and Ohio) and over a third of all cases have been reported from Texas.

Huffington Post Article Today

West Nile Outbreak This Year Likely To Be Second-Worst On Record: CDC

Oct 3 (Reuters) - The outbreak of West Nile virus that has hit Texas and other states remains on pace to make 2012 the second-worst year on record for the disease in the United States, with another 424 cases and 16 deaths reported last week, government figures showed on Wednesday.

So far this year, 3,969 cases of the mosquito-borne illness have been reported to federal health officials as of Oct. 2, up from 3,545 reported the week before, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its weekly update of outbreak data.

The pace of new cases has slowed since late summer, but the total cases reported by the first week in October is still the highest since a record-setting outbreak in 2003, when there were 9,862 cases for the full year.

More HERE

Last day of interning!

Hi everyone! Today is, sadly, my last day of working on Mosquito, and I just wanted to talk briefly about the great experience I've had. I came into this project knowing that I am interested in public health and in the various forms that public health messages can be spread throughout communities, countries, and the world. I didn't know anything about documentaries or about mosquitoes (other than the stuff that everyone knows, i.e. that they are annoying and the only bad part of summer). Since the day I started working at Intention Media, I have learned about mosquitoes, the diseases they spread, film production, documentaries, and social media. I attended my first two film shoots, helped sort through the raw footage of the now famous Key West Town Hall meeting (among other important and interesting footage), developed a new interest in (and concern for) the worldwide crisis of mosquito-borne diseases, and, most of all, a new fear of and hatred towards mosquitoes generally.

I'm so glad to have worked with such great people who taught me so much. Thanks for reading and I hope to be back soon!

-Zoe

Reliance Electronics Shoot

This past Monday I went to my first film shoot! We travelled with Dr. Zsuzsa Marka to Reliance Electronics, Inc. in Totowa, New Jersey where we got a tour of the factory! While I'm not much of an engineer, everything was definitely cool looking and it was interesting to see the inside parts of all the electronics we use every day. Afterwards I got to see the Marka Team's lab at Columbia University for the first time- very cool. Here are some pics from the shoot- enjoy!

Dr. Marka and her intern, Dominique, getting a tour of the factory

The blueprint for a tiny microchip

A half-finished soundboard!

Genetically altered Mosquitoes

Had a really fun & interesting shoot in DC with Bijal Trivedi. Here's her interview on NPR.
MOSQUITOES ENGINEERED TO KILL THEIR OWN KIND

More on Genetically Modified Male Mosquitoes from Oxitec

"The first company in the world offering GM insects for pest control"

Oxitec Fact Sheet

Video Produced by Oxitec