OT Noxious plant warning

Giant Hogweed is here in Australia too, right across the coast from the west
to Tasmania and all of Victoria - it's a worry in Tasmania and Victoria -
seems to be spreading rapidly.
--
Di
I'm creative! You can't expect me to be neat too.
Vic Australia

"Roberta" Roberta@Home wrote in message
...
It's taking over the world! We have this too. Fortunately not in my
garden (yet).
Roberta in D

On Sun, 11 Jul 2010 01:42:40 +0000, NightMist
wrote:


Sharing this from my gardening forum.

Giant Hogweed has expanded it's territory. This is a large and unique
looking plant with caustic sap. The plant is on the DO NOT TOUCH! list as
it can cause what amounts to second or third degree burns to the skin
within 24 hours of contact, contact with the eyes can result in temporary
or permanent blindness. It's range in the US has mostly been the mid-
atlantic states plus Washington DC, and lower new england. In Canada it
was thought to mostly be confined to south central Ontario. In addition
there were scattered reports of the junk in Oregon, Washington state, and
BC. Here is the updated range map from the USDA:
http://plants.usda.gov/maps/large/HE/HEMA17.png
The green parts are where it is considered established now. There have
been reports of it in Newfoundland and the bits of new england where it
is not considered established.

Some additional info:
http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/39809.html

Thought you ought to know.

NightMist

On 11/07/2010 23:32, DiMa wrote:
Giant Hogweed is here in Australia too, right across the coast from the west
to Tasmania and all of Victoria - it's a worry in Tasmania and Victoria -
seems to be spreading rapidly.

It does that. Here in the UK I think it's a Notifiable Plant, and
certainly illegal to propagate it or to transport/dispose of the plant
or contaminated soil without a license!

--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

I lived in Phoenix for 20 years. Trust me, Valley Fever is very real
and it is very deadly and yes, people get it on vacations to the
desert. Dogs are quite susceptible. My sister's dog was on very
expensive meds for Valley Fever for several years before succumbing
entirely, and a friend had to have two labs put down because of Valley
Fever. People who get it can die, particularly if it's misdiagnosed.
And if you catch it in the desert and then go home to Iowa, it likely
will be misdiagnosed. It's actual name is San Joaquin Valley Fever. It
exists only at specific altitudes, temperatures, etc. It only lives
inside it's own ecological niche. And it is fungal. You get it from --
breathing. Yeah, take a breath in the wrong spot and you've got it. Of
course, we had Hanta Virus in Arizona too, and you also get that one
from breathing where infected mice had died, urinated, defecated, been
shooshed by a person with a broom, or just had lived for a long time
in the dust of a place. Rural linemen and postal workers carry
respirators and bleach spray bottles to protect themselves from Hanta
Virus. Unfortunately, nothing is available to protect people from
Valley Fever. Or Bubonic Plague, which also is still live and well in
Arizona's hotter and drier parts. That one is carried by fleas. You
don't want to go hunting, shoot something, and then touch the dead
thing in the wrong part of the state. Fleas instinctively now to jump
off a dead thing and onto the living thing that's close by. Oh yeah,
cats can carry both plague and Hanta Virus in their mouths if they eat
infected rodents. Or just play with them roughly.

So if you go to the deserts of Arizona, watch out for poisonous snakes
and lizards, nasty spiders, stinging and biting insects of all kinds,
roaches bigger than your head and be careful where you breathe.

And remember, there's nowhere you can drive on one tank of gas from
Phoenix that has natural water. That one used to wake me up in a cold
sweat some nights. Heh.

Sunny
so very happily relocated to gorgeous, green, river-filled and flea-
less Washington State

On Sun, 11 Jul 2010 21:49:55 -0500, Sunny wrote
(in article
):

I lived in Phoenix for 20 years. Trust me, Valley Fever is very real
and it is very deadly and yes, people get it on vacations to the
desert. Dogs are quite susceptible. My sister's dog was on very
expensive meds for Valley Fever for several years before succumbing
entirely, and a friend had to have two labs put down because of Valley
Fever. People who get it can die, particularly if it's misdiagnosed.
And if you catch it in the desert and then go home to Iowa, it likely
will be misdiagnosed. It's actual name is San Joaquin Valley Fever. It
exists only at specific altitudes, temperatures, etc. It only lives
inside it's own ecological niche. And it is fungal. You get it from --
breathing. Yeah, take a breath in the wrong spot and you've got it. Of
course, we had Hanta Virus in Arizona too, and you also get that one
from breathing where infected mice had died, urinated, defecated, been
shooshed by a person with a broom, or just had lived for a long time
in the dust of a place. Rural linemen and postal workers carry
respirators and bleach spray bottles to protect themselves from Hanta
Virus. Unfortunately, nothing is available to protect people from
Valley Fever. Or Bubonic Plague, which also is still live and well in
Arizona's hotter and drier parts. That one is carried by fleas. You
don't want to go hunting, shoot something, and then touch the dead
thing in the wrong part of the state. Fleas instinctively now to jump
off a dead thing and onto the living thing that's close by. Oh yeah,
cats can carry both plague and Hanta Virus in their mouths if they eat
infected rodents. Or just play with them roughly.

So if you go to the deserts of Arizona, watch out for poisonous snakes
and lizards, nasty spiders, stinging and biting insects of all kinds,
roaches bigger than your head and be careful where you breathe.

And remember, there's nowhere you can drive on one tank of gas from
Phoenix that has natural water. That one used to wake me up in a cold
sweat some nights. Heh.

Sunny
so very happily relocated to gorgeous, green, river-filled and flea-
less Washington State

Yikes. Okay, I'm not sure I want to leave Illinois and visit Arizona now.

Maureen

NightMist wrote:
Sharing this from my gardening forum.

Giant Hogweed has expanded it's territory. This is a large and unique
looking plant with caustic sap. The plant is on the DO NOT TOUCH! list as
it can cause what amounts to second or third degree burns to the skin
within 24 hours of contact, contact with the eyes can result in temporary
or permanent blindness. It's range in the US has mostly been the mid-
atlantic states plus Washington DC, and lower new england. In Canada it
was thought to mostly be confined to south central Ontario. In addition
there were scattered reports of the junk in Oregon, Washington state, and
BC. Here is the updated range map from the USDA:
http://plants.usda.gov/maps/large/HE/HEMA17.png
The green parts are where it is considered established now. There have
been reports of it in Newfoundland and the bits of new england where it
is not considered established.

Some additional info:
http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/39809.html

Thought you ought to know.

NightMist

This was on the local news recently - it's becoming more of a problem
here in Quebec too. I went hunting for pictures of the stuff - this
site has some good ones:
http://www.kingcounty.gov/environmen...t-hogweed.aspx

Thanks for the reminder.
Allison

It also can be found in the Bakersfield AZ area. He never got it in CA...but
Mr. Joe did in AZ. Had "bronchitis'" according to the local ER and was
treated for it...coughing went on for a coupla weeks until one night at 4 AM
he could not catch his breath so DS drove him to Mayo Hospital ER. They
promptly put him into the hospital and one of the very first tests they did
was for Valley Fever. He was hospitalized for a week or so. he still has
deep 'holes' and scars in his lungs....and if he gets 'coughing' for more
than a very few days he has to go in and get tested again.
Funny, the first ER never tested him for Valley Fever..if he didn't get it
in CA WHY would he get it here... was their logic.
Anyhow, it is in the air here and some ppl get it and some don't. You don't
have to 'dig' in the soil to be exposed. It's like "Lyme Disease" that you
get from getting bitten by a Tick in the NorthEast....some ppl get the
disease and some don't.

Butterfly

"Pati, in Phx" wrote in message
...
Valley Fever is, as Louise says, a fungal infection of the lungs. If
you live in the Arizona desert, or visit for any length of time, you
probably have had VF. Growing up it was not a big deal. There is a
"scratch" test to determine if you have or have had it. Mine was one
of the fastest and most swollen positives that my doctor had seen. G
(I was born in Tucson, have spent most of my life in Tucson and
Phoenix.)
A severe case of Valley Fever, or in some people/animals can be
deadly. But that is rare as far as I know. My sister had a Great Dane
pup that had to be put to sleep because of VF, but that breed is very
susceptible.
Whenever VF comes up as a big deal on a TV show (did on "Bones" a
while back) we always wonder why. Lock downs and quarantines and
such.... sigh.

Yes the spores are in the dust and get riled up with construction or
dust storms. you breathe them in and get the disease. If you are
reasonable healthy and so on, you don't even notice. If you do get
sick there are treatments, including a lot of rest.

Pati, i n Phx
Okay, I have to ask. What is Valley Fever?

A fair part of my family including DSis, DBIL, and various aunts and
cousins
live in AZ and they all swear that this disease exsists. MSM, who is a
nurse, has never heard of it and poo-poo'd the idea that DFather
contracted
Valley Fever on one of their extended visits to AZ.

Maureen

I remembered that Mr. Joe had valley fever but thought it
was in Bakersfield. I know of an older guy that got it down in Imperial
county working on Habitat for Humanity houses. He got really ill also. Not
good but I don't know that it is something you can hide from. It is amazing
anyone is alive when you start learning about all this stuff!
Taria
"Butterflywings" wrote in message
...
It also can be found in the Bakersfield AZ area. He never got it in
CA...but Mr. Joe did in AZ. Had "bronchitis'" according to the local ER
and was treated for it...coughing went on for a coupla weeks until one
night at 4 AM he could not catch his breath so DS drove him to Mayo
Hospital ER. They promptly put him into the hospital and one of the very
first tests they did was for Valley Fever. He was hospitalized for a week
or so. he still has deep 'holes' and scars in his lungs....and if he gets
'coughing' for more than a very few days he has to go in and get tested
again.
Funny, the first ER never tested him for Valley Fever..if he didn't get it
in CA WHY would he get it here... was their logic.
Anyhow, it is in the air here and some ppl get it and some don't. You
don't have to 'dig' in the soil to be exposed. It's like "Lyme Disease"
that you get from getting bitten by a Tick in the NorthEast....some ppl
get the disease and some don't.

Butterfly

"Pati, in Phx" wrote in message
...
Valley Fever is, as Louise says, a fungal infection of the lungs. If
you live in the Arizona desert, or visit for any length of time, you
probably have had VF. Growing up it was not a big deal. There is a
"scratch" test to determine if you have or have had it. Mine was one
of the fastest and most swollen positives that my doctor had seen. G
(I was born in Tucson, have spent most of my life in Tucson and
Phoenix.)
A severe case of Valley Fever, or in some people/animals can be
deadly. But that is rare as far as I know. My sister had a Great Dane
pup that had to be put to sleep because of VF, but that breed is very
susceptible.
Whenever VF comes up as a big deal on a TV show (did on "Bones" a
while back) we always wonder why. Lock downs and quarantines and
such.... sigh.

Yes the spores are in the dust and get riled up with construction or
dust storms. you breathe them in and get the disease. If you are
reasonable healthy and so on, you don't even notice. If you do get
sick there are treatments, including a lot of rest.

Pati, i n Phx
Okay, I have to ask. What is Valley Fever?

A fair part of my family including DSis, DBIL, and various aunts and
cousins
live in AZ and they all swear that this disease exsists. MSM, who is a
nurse, has never heard of it and poo-poo'd the idea that DFather
contracted
Valley Fever on one of their extended visits to AZ.

Maureen

Thanks Allison.
Allison wrote:


This was on the local news recently - it's becoming more of a problem
here in Quebec too. I went hunting for pictures of the stuff - this
site has some good ones:
http://www.kingcounty.gov/environmen...t-hogweed.aspx


Thanks for the reminder.
Allison

On Jul 11, 10:49*pm, Sunny wrote:
I lived in Phoenix for 20 years. Trust me, Valley Fever is very real
and it is very deadly and yes, people get it on vacations to the
desert. Dogs are quite susceptible. My sister's dog was on very
expensive meds for Valley Fever for several years before succumbing
entirely, and a friend had to have two labs put down because of Valley
Fever. People who get it can die, particularly if it's misdiagnosed.
And if you catch it in the desert and then go home to Iowa, it likely
will be misdiagnosed. It's actual name is San Joaquin Valley Fever. It
exists only at specific altitudes, temperatures, etc. It only lives
inside it's own ecological niche. And it is fungal. You get it from --
breathing. Yeah, take a breath in the wrong spot and you've got it. Of
course, we had Hanta Virus in Arizona too, and you also get that one
from breathing where infected mice had died, urinated, defecated, been
shooshed by a person with a broom, or just had lived for a long time
in the dust of a place. Rural linemen and postal workers carry
respirators and bleach spray bottles to protect themselves from Hanta
Virus. Unfortunately, nothing is available to protect people from
Valley Fever. Or Bubonic Plague, which also is still live and well in
Arizona's hotter and drier parts. That one is carried by fleas. You
don't want to go hunting, shoot something, and then touch the dead
thing in the wrong part of the state. Fleas instinctively now to jump
off a dead thing and onto the living thing that's close by. Oh yeah,
cats can carry both plague and Hanta Virus in their mouths if they eat
infected rodents. Or just play with them roughly.

So if you go to the deserts of Arizona, watch out for poisonous snakes
and lizards, nasty spiders, stinging and biting insects of all kinds,
roaches bigger than your head and be careful where you breathe.

And remember, there's nowhere you can drive on one tank of gas from
Phoenix that has natural water. That one used to wake me up in a cold
sweat some nights. Heh.

Sunny
so very happily relocated to gorgeous, green, river-filled and flea-
less Washington State

Bingo, Sunny. What I read of it, (Maureen, there's a neat thing
called google! ;-) it's worse for dogs since they can't tell you
they're sick, they're closer to the ground and disturb it more, and it
just hits them harder. It was enough for me to cancel taking Fudge on
the trip (and have myself tested for it. My doc thought I was nuts
too, but after he looked it up he humored me - it was negative).

Doc

On Jul 11, 11:04*am, Louise in Iowa nieland1390@mchsi-dot-com wrote:
My understanding is that it's a fungal infection that results from infected soil being stirred up by wind,

It can also be kicked up by people (kids in particular) kicking up
dust as they walk, by dogs routing around being dogs, construction...
basically *anything* that disturbs the soil.

and
then people breathe in the fungi. A couple of years ago, DH returned from a one-month stay in Arizona, and
among other things, complained of shortness of breath. An x-ray showed something in his lungs. A biopsy
confirmed it was NOT Valley Fever, but rather another type of infection that eventually cleared on its own.
But it definitely does exist (at least according to our doctor and the Mayo Clinic).
--
Louise in Iowa
nieland1390@mchsi dot comhttp://community.webshots.com/user/louiseiniowa



Maureen Wozniak wrote:
On Sun, 11 Jul 2010 00:33:33 -0500, Dr. Zachary Smith wrote
(in article
):

On Jul 11, 12:15 am, "Taria" wrote:
Now see, there are benefits to living in the desert.
Yeah, like Valley Fever? *We had to cancel a trip to Phoenix with our
QI because of it....

Okay, I have to ask. *What is Valley Fever?

A fair part of my family including DSis, DBIL, and various aunts and cousins
live in AZ and they all swear that this disease exsists. *MSM, who is a
nurse, has never heard of it and poo-poo'd the idea that DFather contracted
Valley Fever on one of their extended visits to AZ.

Maureen- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -