Skip to main content
Log in

MOSQUITO THREAT AT ALIGATOR ALCATRAZ IS CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT

    Administrator
    By Administrator

    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/6/29/2330530/-Alligator-Alcatraz-a-Deportation-Tent-City-in-the-Florida-Everglades-what-could-possibly-go-wrong

    What could possibly go wrong?  Well, its hurricane season for one.  What is Mr. DeSantis going to do with thousands of detainees at Alligator Alcatraz when a Hurricane is headed there? 

    Then, there are the public health risks of crowding people into un-airconditioned tents in sub-tropical south Florida with limited sanitation during the heat of Summer.   The potential for an epidemic and/or an explosion of mosquito borne diseases seems alarmingly high.  

    The handy part of this location is its oppressive setting, at an airfield in a vast sub-tropical swamp where detainees can be flown in and flown out without due process and outside of public view.  This location is particularly well suited to the deportation of 500K Haitians who lost their temporary protected status on Friday. It remains unclear whether immigration court facilities and humane health care for detainees will be part of this facility. 

     

    The health care aspect seems particularly problematic, given the potential for this environment, where thousands of detainees will crowded into tents, to become a vector for a wide range of diseases from Covid-19 and Avian Flu to mumps, measles, tuberculosis, hepatitis, and HIV along with an alarming number of mosquito borne illnesses, like Everglades Encephalitis. 

    The Everglades are home to more than 30 species of mosquitos with a population estimated to be in excess of  7 billion. There are more than 500 known mosquito-borne viruses and at least 100 can cause disease in humans. Most originate from wildlife that infect mosquitoes which then transmit the virus to humans through their bites. Peak mosquito season is during the warm wet summer months, coinciding with the time when Alligator Alcatraz is set to open.  It is unclear how of if mosquitos at Alligator Alcatraz can or will be controlled. 

    Here are some of the risks.

     Mosquito-Borne Diseases in the Everglades:

    A common mosquito-borne virus found in many parts of the world, including the United States. It can cause illness in both humans and horses. 

     

    Another mosquito-borne virus, primarily affecting the elderly during the summer and early fall. 

     

    A rare but serious viral disease that can cause severe illness in humans and horses. 

     
    An endemic virus in South Florida, belonging to the Venezuelan equine encephalitis complex, it can cause neurological disease in humans. Everglades virus (EVEV), a subtype of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV), is endemic to South Florida and can cause encephalitis in rare cases. Mosquitoes, particularly Culex cedecei, play a crucial role in transmitting EVEV between rodents and potentially to humans.  You don’t suppose a facility like Alligator Alcatraz could result in an up tick in rodent population
     
    Chikungunya fever, dengue fever, malaria, and yellow fever are mosquito-borne diseases found in other parts of Florida and can be introduced to the region through infected individuals.  Mosquitos in the Everglades are also capable of transmitting Mahogany Hammock virus, Shark River virus, and Gumbo Limbo virus, whose public health risks are not well understood news.yale.edu/....
    Aligator Alcatraz flooding issue evidence below.