[Coral-List] Coral Diseases, COVID 19 =?utf-8?Q?=E2=80=A6_?=and African dust???

[David Obura]

David Obura || CORDIO East Africa, #9 Kibaki Flats, Kenyatta Beach, Bamburi Beach, P.O.BOX 10135 Mombasa 80101, Kenya
Email: dobura at cordioea.net  --  davidobura at gmail.com
Websites: www.cordioea.net  --   www.wiofutures.net  --  www.coralspecialistgroup.org
Mobile: +254-715 067417; skype dobura; Twitter @dobura

> Gene,
>
> so now the eponymous ‘African dust’ is also responsible for Covid and all other things bad in the Florida Keys? More so than sewage from overpopulated and overdeveloped islands (you glossed over that one in your email)?
>
> I could say so many things about your constant finger pointing on this issue, but I’ve so far chosen to back down each time!  But I won’t say more now either,
>
> regards, David
>
> David Obura || CORDIO East Africa, #9 Kibaki Flats, Kenyatta Beach, Bamburi Beach, P.O.BOX 10135 Mombasa 80101, KenyaEmail: dobura at cordioea.net  --  davidobura at gmail.comWebsites: www.cordioea.net  --   www.wiofutures.net  --  www.coralspecialistgroup.orgMobile: +254-715 067417; skype dobura; Twitter @doburaOn 13 Apr 2021, 19:07 +0300, coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov, wrote:
> >
> > Message: 1
> > Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2021 16:38:53 -0400
> > From: Eugene Shinn <eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu>
> > To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.govSubject: [Coral-List] Coral Diseases and COVID 19
> > Message-ID: <6bb75af8-552e-a312-8aa6-26256daf9160 at mail.usf.edu>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
> >
> > In the early 2000s I led a USGS group of research scientists
> > investigating microbes and various toxic minerals transported across the
> > Atlantic attached to African dust particles. My team included two Phd
> > Microbiologists, a Geochemist, a coral reef biologist, and myself, a
> > sedimentologist/geologist. Our study began as an attempt to determine
> > why coral reefs began sickening and dying in the late 1970s and began
> > peaking in 1983. The diseases have continued to the present.
> >
> > Our first target was raw sewage being injected in the porous Keys
> > limestone. We installed close to 100 monitoring wells that allowed us to
> > determine the direction of ground water flow. Initial funding was from
> > USGS, State of Florida, and NASA. Later we receives greater funding from
> > our own Congressman Bill Young. Our research revealed the presence of
> > toxic minerals, radio-active elements, and numerous microbes that arrive
> > in the annual influx of African dust. That dust also settles into the
> > sewage contaminated Keys groundwater. Over 200 viable bacteria and fungi
> > were cultured and identified in the atmospheric dust that settles in the
> > Keys and the Gulf of Mexico each summer. Along with bacteria our two
> > microbiologists (graduates of USF) also detected an abundance of
> > viruses. However, by law we could not culture and study viruses. A level
> > 3 microbiology laboratory is required for the study of viruses. The
> > microbiologist however, observed, that the number of viruses in the dust
> > often exceeded the numbers of microbes.
> >
> > Stimulated by increasing levels of asthma in the Caribbean and the
> > advent of Desert Storm in Iran our focus eventually shifted from coral
> > health to human health. We were concerned that African dust could be
> > used to transport /Bacillus anthraces/, generally known as ANTHRAX. We
> > knew this could easily reach our shores. Numerous species of live
> > /Bacillus/ were commonly cultured from this dust.//Fortunately we found
> > no /Bacillus anthraces/.
> >
> > All of this research transpired a few years before the appearance of the
> > /Carona/ Virus and the outbreak of COVID 19. With satellite images from
> > NASA we could watch the seasonality of annual dust events. During our
> > winter months dust storms from Africa make landfall in the Amazon
> > forests of Brazil and the Windward islands where asthma among children
> > was increasing. It was also known that the dust fertilizes the Amazon
> > rain forest. I recall that some of the first COVID outbreaks occurred in
> > Brazil. As near as we can determine from sketchy reports those early
> > outbreaks occurred in the winter of 2019. During summer months dust
> > storms also cross the Mediterranean impacting Europe and often turn the
> > Alpine snow a rusty brown color. That dust also obscures windshields of
> > autos in Spain. Here in Florida the dust arrives in late June and early
> > July and extends into August and September.At times it is difficult to
> > see more than a mile.
> >
> > From what I am reading in newspaper reports (I am retired) COVID is
> > again spiking in Brazil, So as we enter spring it will be interesting to
> > see if we experience a spike in COVID during June and July in the
> > Florida Keys. Many have predicted an impending spike so stay tuned.It is
> > a very infectious virus and once established easily spreads from person
> > to person.
> >
> > *Speculations*
> >
> > **Presently there are at leas 3 hypotheses regarding the origin of the
> > CARONA 19 Virus. 1. It is a natural virus, 2. It is derived from
> > Bats,(or frozen fish) and 3. It was modified from 1 and 2 in a Viral
> > laboratory and escaped. I will avoid these controversies. Only time will
> > tell. However, I think it importantfor readers to consider the Great
> > Influenza out break of 1918. That virus killed between 50 and 100
> > million people worldwide at a time when there was no TV and essentially
> > no radio. Because we were at war with Germany (WW1) there was little
> > that could be reported in newspapers. It was at first thought to be
> > caused by a bacteria and all efforts to create a vaccine were based on a
> > bacterial origin. We now know it was in fact a virus. Viruses were only
> > vaguely known to exist in 1918 and the electron microscope necessary to
> > see them had not yet been invented. The influenza virus therefore could
> > not have been a laboratory creation. It had to be a naturally created
> > virus that like COVID also came in two different waves and eventually
> > subsided in 1922. For a detailed account read, ?The Great Influenza? by
> > John M. Barry. The book was a New York Times best seller.
> >
> > Will we experience a resurgence of COVID come dust season in the Florida
> > Keys this July?Lets wait and see. Gene