The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "mosquitoes" ...
-
Are Taxpayers Being Stung?
"The Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District is a taxpayer-funded agency that controls potentially disease-carrying insects." Despite having the largest monetary reserves of any agency of its kind, they planned to increase its budget in the 2007-2008 year.
Tags: pest; taxpayer; tax funded; mosquitoes; vector control; executives; salaries; conferences; trips
-
Building a Better Mosquito
Geneticists are trying to engineer a better mosquito--one that will be incapable of transmitting disease. Yet, it remains to be seen if people will accept these custom-made bugs outside of the lab.
Tags: mosquitos; malaria; genetic engineering; genetics; science
-
Choice of Evils: As a Tropical Scourge Makes a Comeback, So, Too, Does DDT
The Wall Stree Journal reports on the use of DDT by African countries in a desperate attempt to fight malaria and other diseases. "DDT kills birds and other wild species, but ... malaria kills children - about one every 40 seconds in sub-Saharan Africa," reveals the story. The report points out that in recent years the mosquito and the malaria parasite it spreads have evolved more resistance to DDT alternatives and to drugs. Mozambique remains the only country in southern Africa, which is leery of the pesticide, and thus does not comply with "a concerted regional attack" on malaria, the Journal reports.
Tags: malaria; cholera; health; South Africa; Mozambique; mosquitos; diseases; pollution; environment; wildlife
-
Swat Team
Philadelphia Magazine reports on the Sisyphean task of trying to control the mosquito population in an effort to prevent (or at least slow) the spread of West Nile Virus, and other mosquito-borne diseases, across the United States.
Tags: mosquitos; West Nile Virus
-
Arctic Heat Wave
The Progressive reports on the realities of global warming in areas close to the Arctic Circle. The story describes "the warmest summer anyone ... can remember" in Iqaluit, capital of the new semi-sovereign Inuit nation of Nunavit in the Canadian Arctic. "A world based on ice and snow is melting now...," reports the magazine. The story reveals that the changes are menacing to the local population, since some houses have eroded into the sea, and "food sources are getting farther and farther away."
Tags: Arctic; climate changes; Bush; politics; temperature; mosquitoes; hunting; forests; ice; wildlife
-
Mutant Malathion
A Village Voice investigation reveals that an insecticide has become a deadly poison, since it was stored at temperatures much higher than the supposed level. The story finds that Cheminova, the company manufacturing the dangerous malathion has been aware of the problem since 1996, and points to several death cases resulting from the use of the chemical. The article also follows a Florida lawsuit claim related to the injuries caused by the insecticide.
Tags: Environmental Protection Agency; Mississippi; Fyfanon; neurotoxin; mosquitos; FBI; cancer; biology; Green Party; environment
-
Making a New Mosquito
Spielman and D'Antonio report how some scientists "are trying to deprive mosquitos of their ability to spread parasitic infections" such as malaria and dengue fever by altering the genetic makeup of the mosquitos. The strategy of one entomologist, Alexander Raikhel, proposes boosting "the immune response of mosqitos so that they kill pathogens they would normally harbor and pass on to humans." Raikhel and other scientists would release the genetically mutated mosquitos into the wild, allowing them to pass along their traits to wild mosquitos. However, genetic manipulation of mosquitos "is not without risk." At worse, it could "lead to "epidemics as wild mosquitos rebound."
Tags: mosquito; genetic engineering; malaria; disease; DNA
-
Flying Fever
Doctors learned of the presence of the mosquito-borne West Nile encephalitis when crows and captive birds in the Bronx Zoo began dying. But identifying the malady and treating the cause were difficult, because there is but a handful of experts in mosquito-borne diseases in the U.S. To combat the outbreak in the Bronx and Queens, health officials sprayed Malathion to kill flying bugs but no move was made to eradicate breeding areas.
Tags: mosquitos; virus; CDC; health prevention; poison; birds
-
1999 IRE National Conference Show and Tell Tape #6
1999 IRE National Conference (Kansas City) Show and Tell Tape #6 is the sixth of a nine-part series. This tape includes: 1.) Julie Nazzario (Fox-Milwaukee) Investigation uncovers the small sentences handed to child murderers in a town where a man gets 8 years for torturing animals. 2.) Kimberly Lohman (WYFF - Greenville, Asheville, Spartanburg) "Looking for Dad" A student photographer takes a picture of an old man and it ends up on an Internet site. Across the country, in Seattle, a woman recognizes the name and photo of her dad, a man for whom she's spent years searching. The story includes an interview with the woman from Seattle, and the photographer takes Kimberly back to where the picture was taken. Now the community is trying to help the woman find her 90-year-old father before he dies. 3.) Herb Weisbaum (CBS News) Herb runs a rather humorous test of personal bug zappers. These devices give off a high-pitched whine that's supposed to send mosquitoes flying away. Herb takes the units to the real-world laboratory of Minnesota and asks campers to try them out. They fail miserably and provide great video and soundbites. 4.) Mike Luery (KCRA-Sacramento) a. Unclaimed property. b. How one person stopped telemarketers by winning damages from a lawsuit. 5.) Tim Minton (WNBC-New York City) Federal judges in conflict of interest..deciding cases that involve companies in which they own stock. 6.) Michael Finney (KGO-San Francisco) Finney uses two stores to demonstrate how easily people will give away personal information such as social security number, mother's maiden name and signatures. By setting up fake sweepstakes and a bogus survey... Finney gets people to give up this info. He then shows them what just happened. If the scams had really been happening, these people could have lost control of their credit cards and phone bills, to cite just a few examples. 7.) Jim Strickland (WSB-Atlanta) Finding confidential patient information in the garbage. 8.) Sandra Chapman (WISH-Indianapolis) Food stamps fro sale at used car lots.
Tags: TAPE; Kansas City; conference; no transcript; IRE