this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2023
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Humans have an awful record of shortsightedness and unforeseen consequences. While yes, mosquitoes have the highest humam kill rate of any other thing that can kill people, it can be mitigated or eliminated with adequate sanitation and healthcare access for communities being harassed by mosquitoes.
The better solution to the ails caused by these insects is to improve drainage and sanitation infrastructure, build hospitals and clinics, and enact policy which gives access to this infrastructure to everyone without exception.
We have exterminated parasites before, why can’t we do it again? I don’t see many people going up to bat for the Guinea Worm. Also all of that is wonderful and all, but natural land features such as wetland, swamps, floodplains, and river deltas prevent that from working.
What are you going to do? Drain a wetland or pour kerosene into it and cause devastating damage to the local ecosystem and human population? Well that’s the only way to contain mosquitos naturally.
The fact that we've done something in the past doesn't mean it is justified. Going to advocate for killing more wolves, tigers, lions, etc because we've killed them in the past for being "pests" too?
We also don't know what other roles they played in the natural ecosystem, and what problems removing them has caused. If it caused no harm, yay lucky us! But we do know dozens of birds, bats, etc rely on mosquito populations for food. If we keep taking organisms out of the picture because they are somehow inconvenient, eventually all we'll have left are pets and livestock.
By building sewage, sanitation, and drainage systems in populated areas, you prevent standing water from being a major concern. Less standing water means less breeding grounds. Also, since this infrastructure also includes water purification plants, sewage treatment, trash/garbage management, etc., you also prevent the mosquitoes that do manage to breed from getting the diseases they like to spread in the first place.
This is why even though mosquitoes are everywhere, including the ""developed"" areas, the regions with good infrastructure have less mosquito born diseases going around.
So stop trying to insinuate that I am advocating for ecological destruction. I'm talking about funding and building sewers, hospitals, clinics, waste management, etc in cities, towns, villages, and other places where people live. Natural places need to stay untouched.