Pesticides, Pregnancy, Anencephaly and Zika Virus
Editor's Note -- This AOA article excerpted from 2014 looks at cases of anencephaly in Washington state and whether pesticides or some other environmental factor might be involved. An update from the Washington health department (consider the source) is here. With the Zika virus now in the news, we thought it was worth reminding readers that anencephaly has been on the radar before.
Trouble in Ecotopia
By Dan Olmsted
Today I'd like to mention further evidence that links pesticides with neurological and developmental mayhem, including but not limited to autism, especially along the "left coast" of the United States, stretching from the San Joaquin and Central Valleys of California up through Napa and the orchard and wine counties of Washington State. This temperate and fertile arc, sometimes referred to as Ecotopia, began blooming with fruits and vegetables when industrial agriculture, pesticides and irrigation started taking hold at the end of the 19th Century. It now accounts for a large percentage of the nation's food supply -- and increasingly, a number of unusual outbreaks that point to toxins.
In our AOA series in 2011, The Age of Polio -- How an Old Virus and New Toxins Triggered a Man-made Epidemic, we demonstrated how the first use of pesticides containing lead and arsenic in the late 19th century triggered the first outbreaks of poliomyelitis. The polio virus up till then had been a benign stomach bug, or enterovirus, but we proposed that the ingestion of lead and arsenic in children with an active polio infection allowed the virus to gain access to the nervous system, where it killed cells at the top of the spinal column (the anterior horn), leading to temporary or permanent paraylsis and, sometimes, death. Early epidemics in the San Joaquin and Napa regions as well as orchard country in Washington State are the kind of associations, overlooked at the time and ever since, that point to the true, manmade nature of polio epidemics.
Earlier this year Mark and I tracked a new outbreak, of two dozen or so cases of partial paralysis in California children, and suggested pesticides could have played a role there. Medical experts suspect an enterovirus, interestingly. We suspect that whatever else was going on, pesticides probably played a role. We reported that the parents of one child owned a vineyard (reminiscent of that Napa polio outbreak more than a century ago), and had also remembered their daughter ate fresh raspberries the morning she got sick. The doctors, she told us, didn't seem interested. (The child also got an IV at the hospital right before her arm suddenly, and permanently, went limp, possibly suggesting provocation polio, in which a needle stick can create an opening for an enterovirus to reach the nervous system). A second child who has been identified lives in an LA exurb built on farmland so intensively farmed it has an apricot named for it. (Moorpark.)
Lately, the arc of mayhem has been migrating further north, where another "mystery outbreak" has baffled researchers. According to NBC, "Mysterious Birth Defects: No Answers, Only Questions, Experts Say":
"Since 2010, at least 30 babies — now 31 — have been diagnosed with anencephaly in a three-county area of central Washington state that includes Yakima and Sunnyside. ... That’s a rate of 8.7 per 10,000 births in the region, far higher than the national rate of 2.1 cases for 10,000 births."
Among the possibilities are a nearby nuclear plant and "pesticides, grain molds, nitrates in water supplies and other concerns previously tied to the problem. ... One factor that’s certain to get attention is the low rate of folic acid use in the region. Low levels of the B vitamin in early pregnancy are known to increase risk of anencephaly, spina bifida and other neural tube defects. Sixty percent of women in the three-county area don’t take folic acid as recommended — a figure that climbed to 80 percent to 90 percent in those whose babies were studied."
Seriously, not enough folic acid? My money is on toxins, particularly pesticides. Another recent article pointed to illnesses caused by a phenomenon known as pesticide drift in the same areas. According to oregonlive.com in May:
"OLYMPIA, Wash. — A sudden rise in pesticide drift incidents in Eastern Washington orchards has sickened 60 people since March — a typical number for a full year, the Washington State Department of Health said Monday."
Back when polio was the threat, and horses grazed in Yakima orchards treated with lead arsenate, they would get a paralytic condition called orchard disease. And some researchers noted that when polio epidemics broke out, farm animals -- chickens, pigs, horses, even dogs -- would develop the same symptoms. The dots lay unconnected, and real people still pay the price. Now when we hear about such events in Yakima, we blame mothers for not taking enough supplements; when we hear about students developing tic disorders in New York State, no one notices the crop dusting plane buzzing right next to the school (a story we first reported) or the fact that most of these classroom clusters occur in rural districts during planting or harvesting season; instead they blame young women for developing "hysteria," one of the oldest, stupidest and most sexist tricks in the orthodox psychiatric playbook.
So, yes, pesticides cause paralysis, neurological disorders, birth defects, poliomyelitis, ADHD, the first cases of autism ...
This all comes full circle when we consider the new study that in effect connects pesticide drift in California farm fields is associated with autism. CBS: "Pregnant women who live within a mile of spaces where commercial pesticides are applied appear to have an increased risk of having a child with autism, a new study suggests.
"The risk that a child would develop autism appeared to be highest for women who lived near farms, golf courses and other public spaces that were treated with pesticides during the last three months of their pregnancies."
As our Anne Dachel has pointed out, the vaccine deniers at Forbes and Salon are pouring gallons of undiluted Roundup all over this story, because they know where it is going -- straight back to the idea that autism is not genetic in origin, it's toxic. Anything that points to a clear-cut toxin, not just vague "environmental factors" interacting with a gazillion mutant genes is, so to speak, toxic.
That's why pesticides matter to those of us who actually believe vaccines are the main driver of the autism epidemic. They point to its man-made and modern origins; they point to ethylmercury as the trigger; they single out pesticides and vaccines as the primary vectors; and they show how dangerous, foolhardy and ultimately criminal it is to keep putting ethylmercury in vaccines for babies and pregnant woman.
And that's why trouble in Ecotopia is such as import clue not just to the beginning, but also to ending, the age of autism.
--
Dan Olmsted is Editor of Age of Autism.
Change of definition , why ?
....On 7 December, the MoH revised the case definition for microcephaly in newborns: the head circumference criterion for a suspected case has been reduced from a threshold of ≤ 33 cm to ≤ 32 cm. Newborns with a head circumference between 32 and 33 cm will be closely monitored.
http://www.who.int/csr/don/15-december-2015-microcephaly-brazil/en/
Posted by: corinne lalo | February 19, 2016 at 02:15 PM
The health issues in Brazil are numerous:
More deaths before birth
More cases of children with smaller than normal head size
More cases of Guillaim Barre Symdrome
A new illness not seen before that of ZIKA where the literature and suppliers talk more of paralysis and death than headaches
All these cant just arrive from outer space as one famous scientist used to tell us for the flu / cold epidemics
So we need to look at what are the most dangerous exposures after drinking coffee that is often thrown into people's faces when they talk of REAL threats to peoples health
1 the novel use of vaccines during pregnancy
2 the novel use of insects with fragments of viruses and bacteria plus markers to identify successful introduction of such material
3 the use of pesticides already considered dangerous to human life in other countries
Alongside this remember the small head syndrome level although rising from near zero levels to that where doctors are coming across more cases than ever seen in their medical careers has yet to rise to levels seen in the USA today.
There are real threats to public health aside from the fact that there is actually an awful lot of coffee in Brazil too!
Posted by: John Fryer | February 08, 2016 at 07:25 AM
There are actually more trials (vaccine, drug, etc.) in Brazil than most places. One might compare Africa. Think "The Constant Gardner" and what is described in that book. I am wondering if there are a lot of microcephaly cases in Africa. The Zika virus was first found in Africa in 1947 in a monkey. If there are no cases of microcephaly over there, the question needs to be asked why that would be.
Posted by: Birgit Calhoun | February 05, 2016 at 10:55 AM
"OLYMPIA, Wash. — A sudden rise in pesticide drift incidents in Eastern Washington orchards has sickened 60 people since March — a typical number for a full year, the Washington State Department of Health said Monday."
Well, at least they're keeping track. Give those idiots a raise. If there are 60 sickened from pesticide drift in Eastern Washington, known to the Wash. St. Dept. of Health, can you just imagine how many people are sickened from pesticide drift across America? The world?
Posted by: Linda1 | February 04, 2016 at 06:19 PM
Maureen McDonnell, RN,
Your logical skepticism makes perfect sense, as for instance genetically modified mosquitos being a culprit for causing brain damage to infants in the womb. BUT, that's exactly how dogmatic the Vaccine/Pesticide-Cabal's publicity works: To cast about for any cause but vaccines' and pesticides' toxicities, and to always blame a "virus" (or retrovirus)!
Can you tell the AoA audience what your personal RN practice (and thoughts) are pertinent to the CDC Child Immunization Schedule? Thanks!
Posted by: david m burd | February 04, 2016 at 01:48 PM
Please let me know if I have this theory straight: Zika, a virus that has been around for 4 decades is rendered more toxic when it interacts with excessive amounts of pesticides (Brazil became the largest consumer and user of pesticides in the world in 2012) Also Brazil grows and ingests a hefty amount of beef from cattle who are given antibiotics...specifically Tetracycline. This toxic cocktail already spells disaster for the vulnerable. But wait - wait there's more. The Brazilian government, without doing any safety testing then mandates women receive the DTaP vaccine during pregnancy and that mandate was instituted 10 months prior to the inordinate amount of babies being born with Microcephaly.I'm not saying we shouldn't blame the genetically engineered mosquito, but it seems there are a few other co factors to consider before sending in the military to spray insecticides or lining up at CVS to get our anti-Zika vaccine!
Posted by: Maureen McDonnell, RN | February 04, 2016 at 11:24 AM
"Heavy disease burden for pregnant women..." is bull-crud to try and justify more nanny state vaccine mandates. Sadly this will actually cause more problems for mother and offspring.
Posted by: Reader | February 04, 2016 at 09:10 AM
Nonnymouse, Thanks for the Global Influenza Initiative (GBI) reference, that states:
"Abstract:
There is a heavy disease burden due to seasonal influenza in pregnant women, their fetuses, and their newborns."
Since GBI's premise (or rationale if you like) is based on a total falsehood, i.e. "a heavy disease burden due to seasonal influenza" they can then proceed to ignore the genuine dangers of vaccines' toxicities - and they will.
Since GBI's mindset is a complete lie, there will no end to their destructive, lethal flu vaccine promotions - just like the U.S. CDC.
Posted by: david m burd | February 04, 2016 at 08:33 AM
Note the phrase "new Phase III trials." And also note, "...regardless of pregnancy trimester."
Have to wonder WHERE the Phase III trials took place.
Have to wonder how many of these microcephaly infants have mothers who participated.
Have to wonder, any or many or all of these mothers had vaccine of some type (any type) -- in what month of pregnancy did they have it. Or them, if more than one.
But there is one thing we won't have to wonder about, even though the question will arise: "I WONDER why none of the medical authorities are investigating these questions."
= = = = = = = =
Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2015 Aug;9 Suppl 1:31-7.
The Global Influenza Initiative recommendations for the vaccination of pregnant women against seasonal influenza.
Macias AE1, Precioso AR2,3, Falsey AR4; Global Influenza Initiative.
Abstract:
There is a heavy disease burden due to seasonal influenza in pregnant women, their fetuses, and their newborns. The main aim of this study was to review and analyze current evidence on safety, immunogenicity, and clinical benefits of the inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV) in pregnant women.
Current evidence shows that in pregnant women, the seasonal and pandemic IIVs are safe and well tolerated. After vaccination, pregnant women have protective concentrations of anti-influenza antibodies, conferring immunogenicity in newborns. The best evidence, to date, suggests that influenza vaccination confers clinical benefits in both pregnant women and their newborns.
Vaccination with either the seasonal or pandemic vaccine has been shown to be cost-effective in pregnancy.
There are scarce data from randomized clinical trials; fortunately, new phase 3 clinical trials are under way.
In the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, data suggest that the greatest clinical benefit for infants occurs if the IIV is administered within the first weeks of availability of the vaccine, at the beginning of the influenza season, regardless of the pregnancy trimester. The optimal timing to vaccinate pregnant women who live in tropical regions is unclear.
Based on evaluation of the evidence, the Global Influenza Initiative (GII) recommends that to prevent seasonal influenza morbidity and mortality in infants and their mothers, all pregnant women, regardless of trimester, should be vaccinated with the IIV.
For countries where vaccination against influenza is starting or expanding, the GII recommends that pregnant women have the highest priority.
© 2015 The Authors. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Posted by: Nonnymouse | February 03, 2016 at 06:12 PM
Nonnymouse,
I think they skipped the trial and just gave it to all the pregnant Brazilian women. You know, because "the benefits outweigh the risks".
Posted by: Linda1 | February 03, 2016 at 05:20 PM
Please look at the second photo down in the following article. See the "health worker" fumigating wearing a gas mask, eye and ear protection, right next to completely unprotected Brazilians.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/zika-declared-global-emergency-by-who/ar-BBoYPWX?li=BBnb7Kz
Posted by: Linda1 | February 03, 2016 at 04:52 PM
It is curious that an antibiotic Tetracycline is used as an antibiotic on farm animals. This antibiotic is also used as a quasi antidote to the gene that was inserted into genetically engineered mosquitoes to combat the mosquitoes that spread the Zika virus.
There is much literature about this including from Oxitec that produces these bugs.
What I am getting to is something else that's related; Boyd Haley wrote an article about Alzheimer's (http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dailys/02/Sep02/091602/80027dd5.pdf) in which the antibiotic Tetracycline is mentioned. He talks about heavy metals and tetracycline have a synergistic effect. The article is worth reading because it also refers to a National Geographic article from 1972. Now let's say there is mercury on those farm lands from ethyl mercury pesticides and there also is lots of Tetracycline around, there might also be enhanced toxicity. By the way I have seen at least one mosquito that looked like a zebra mosquito here in the SF Bay Area.
Posted by: Birgit Calhoun | February 03, 2016 at 03:48 PM
Thomas Insel was on Charie Rose the other night. There was some discussion of Zika virus. Insel said, approximately, that the problem (microcephaly) did seem -- seem -- to be related to the virus. But, he added, there must be "some other factor" to account for the rise in microcephaly.
If all newborns are now receiving thimerosal-containing vaccine(s), that would be enough -- when added to the extra burden of more pesticides contaminating the mother.
However. Add one more possibility. Big Pharma does "trials" of all sorts of things in all sorts of places. A question to be asked would be -- was there ANY new mother of these children with microcephaly -- ANY mother did NOT participate in some kind of vaccine trial also?
Maybe no mother did. Maybe there are no such trials in Brazil anywhere. But in Africa, there is "nodding disease." And the hotspots or outbreaks appear to match exactly with various Big Pharma trials, when both are put onto a map.
Posted by: Nonnymouse | February 03, 2016 at 02:48 PM
Cynthia, Yes - you are right.
Still, TODAY, the U.S. CDC never (NEVER!) mentions Wintertime illness (aka ILI, Influenza Like Illness) can be avoided because of vitamin supplements, to recharge Vitamin D depletion naturally occurring every Wintertime.
Instead of adequate nutrition, the absolutely corrupt CDC rigorously promotes useless, toxic flu vaccines with even two shots to just-born infants, the first shot at 6 months, the second shot 4 weeks later. It's right there on their CDC Government website: Their insane CDC dogma (just google "flu cdc", anybody can do it).
The lethal criminality of the CDC cannot be exaggerated -- .
Posted by: david m burd | February 03, 2016 at 02:41 PM
Regarding the news about Zika virus, if they were developing a vaccine to protect against pesticide drift, we wouldn't be blaming mosquitos for anencephaly.
Notice that if you can't make a vaccine against it, you can't blame it for a disease. One tactic is to find a virus as a cause for something and then spread the blame, priming the public for a new vaccine.
Posted by: Cynthia Cournoyer | February 03, 2016 at 12:40 PM
And then there's this possibility:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/02/pandoras-box-how-gm-mosquitos-could-have-caused-the-zika-virus-outbreak/
http://theantimedia.org/zika-outbreak-epicenter-in-same-area-where-gm-mosquitoes-were-released-in-2015/
Posted by: Carol | February 03, 2016 at 12:12 PM
We are in the midst of another medical false flag. Ebola was last year and H1N1 before that. Zika, which is a decades old, obscure virus was originally identified in Africa in 1947 and is named after the Zika Forest. Symptoms include fever, headache, rash and achy joints. Most people who get zika recover. Hospitalizations and death is rare. Most public health officials admit there is no definitive proof that Zika is linked to microcephaly yet they are certain there is a link (big red flag). Unless the viruses suddenly mutated this year, Zika is the WHO's scapegoat du jour to justify toxic poisoning of the masses. The real culprit is more likely exposure to pesticides and even according to some vaccines. The globalists need a scape goat to justify vaccination and further toxic spraying to control population. Our kids are in the cross hairs.
Posted by: Autism mom | February 03, 2016 at 10:08 AM
Just speculating here but is there a pattern that's being overlooked? A mosquito bite is not causing an epidemic of Microcephalophis. I believe it is a combination of co factors and pesticides being at the top of the list. What has been overlooked is this:
-Seven cases of a rare fatal birth defect were reported in a remote region of Washington state in 2013, making it the fourth consecutive year that rates have more than tripled the national average, health officials said Tuesday.
There’s still no clear reason for the spike in anencephaly, a severe defect in which babies are born missing parts of the brain or skull, according to Washington state health officials. NBC News investigated the issue in February.
But it brings to 30 the number of cases reported since 2010 in the area that includes Yakima, Benton and Franklin counties in central Washington state. The anencephaly rate jumped to 8.7 cases per 10,000 births in the region, far exceeding the national rate of 2.1 cases per 10,000 births.
"We're really concerned about the fact that the anencephaly rates are still so high," said Mandy Stahre, an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based in Washington state. "We were sort of hoping that this may have been a statistical anomaly or would go away."
Rare Birth Defects Still Spiking in Washington State: http://www.nbcnews(dot)com/health/health-news/rare-birth-defects-still-spiking-washington-state-n86916.
What both of these tragedies have in common is :PESTICIDES.
As of the end of 2015 there are 40 documented cases between 2010-2015.
Posted by: Danchi | February 03, 2016 at 09:32 AM
Dan, From Natural News, August 28. 2015:
"Brazil’s agricultural sector is on the rise. By the same token, so is its pesticide use. According to the Brazilian Association of Collective Health (Abrasco), there has been an increase of 162.32% in the volume of pesticides in Brazil between 2000 and 2012.(1)
In 2009, Brazil earned the title of the world’s largest consumer of pesticides, superseding the United States. Many of the pesticides used in Brazil are banned in more developed countries due to health concerns. Approximately four major pesticide manufactures, including U.S. FMC Corp., Denmark’s Cheminova A/S, Helm AG of Germany and Swiss agribusiness Syngenta AG, sell products in Brazil that cannot be sold where they are produced."
Note by year 2012 Brazil had become the champion user of agribusiness persticides, whereas the "microcephaly" epidemic emerged over 3 years later. Actually, a major news outlet has published the documented cases are nowhere near 3,000+, instead the autopsy total is maybe 300. Of course, WHO and CDC and the mainstream media will ALWAYS hype and fear monger about "viruses" and ignore pesticides as your prior investigations make clear. The newly mandated DTaP shot during pregnancy stands out, to plausibly act synergistically with even higher pesticide use in 2015,
It takes honest WHO or CDC or Brazilian Health Officials to have the resources to investigate and find out -- Fat Chance.
Posted by: david m burd | February 03, 2016 at 08:14 AM
So, as if we don’t have enough to deal with rumors have abounded that the virus is available for purchase- online- and sure enough, it is. At atcc.org, there’s a listing for freeze dried Zika virus. For profit corporations will pay $516.00 and if you are working in the Non-profit sector, there’s a bit of a discount, you’ll only pay $430.00. Not looking for Zika? No worries, they have lots and lots of other viruses and biological agents for sale.
From the article:
“For the sake of investigation, the Free Thought Project tried to go through the application process that was required to buy the virus, just to see if anyone with $516 to spend would be able to get their hands on it. In case there are people out there who think this may be a ‘conspiracy theory,’ you can plainly see that the source for the Zika virus is, in fact, from J. Casals, Rockefeller Foundation, and sourced from Blood from experimental forest sentinel rhesus monkey, Uganda, 1947.”
________________________________________
________________________________________
The folks at The Free Thought Project created a user account on the website, and after finagling a bit, were able to complete the application process. They are still waiting to see if their purchase will be approved. So I suppose its not as easy as logging onto Amazon.com or anything but if you don’t mind lying, have access to a tax ID#, and enough drive- you too could be the proud owner of a disease that’s currently wrecking havoc in some of the poorest nations on earth. Oh right, and its here now, too.
- See more at: http://www.healthnutnews.com/deadly-zika-virus-available-for-sale-online-courtesy-of-the-rockefeller-foundation/#sthash.GX1qBl8Q.dpuf
Posted by: Georg Elser | February 03, 2016 at 07:50 AM
It has been reported the Brazilian government .. in early 2015 .. "mandated" pregnant women receive a DTaP shot during pregnancy .. and .. reports of "microcephaly" in newborn infants began to rise.
It has also been reported there are "35 other countries across the globe that have confirmed cases of Zika virus .. but .. NONE OF THEM are having any microcephaly reports".
If these two isolated "reports" are true ... the frightening "correlation" deserves far greater "scientific" scrutiny .. if only to make certain the DTaP shot for pregnant women .. is NOT "causation".
Posted by: Bob Moffit | February 03, 2016 at 06:25 AM