Blog note. Jesus indicated that ‘fearful sights’ (various natural disasters) would occur leading up to the time known as the Tribulation and Great Tribulation (a combined seven year period of great destruction on earth). Although these types of things have occurred in the past for centuries and thousands of years, they could be identified as the ‘season of the times’ due to the ferociousness of these events. They would be occurring in greater intensity, severity, frequency, size, duration, scope … just like the pains that a woman experiences in labor the farther along she is in the labor process. We are in the ‘season of the times’ that comes just before the seven (7) year Tribulation/Great Tribulation period

… And great earthquakes shall be in diverse places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. (Luke 21:11).

… And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; (Luke 21:25)

… Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken; (Luke 21:26)

… This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. (2 Timothy 3:1)

Jesus is giving a series of prophecies about what to look for as the age of grace comes to a close. These verses are several of many such prophecies from throughout the Bible. 2017 was the worst year in recorded history for the intensity, frequency, severity, duration and occurrence of a large number of severe natural disasters worldwide. Earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, torrential flooding, unprecedented wildfires in unusual places, devastating droughts, excessive/scorching heat setting records everywhere, record snowfalls in Europe and Russia. Snow in the Arabia. This list can go on. Most studied Eschatologists believe these ‘fearful sights’ and massive natural disasters are all part of the ‘CONVERGENCE’ of signs that this Biblical and prophetic age is closing. Most people who study prophecy are familiar with the routine reference(s) made that these things will be like a woman having labor pains, growing in intensity, frequency, size, duration and scope.

First sexually transmitted dengue case, between two men, confirmed in Spain. Dengue kills 10,000 (5+5) people a year and infects over 100 (5+5) million. Dengue is commonly found in six (6) main regions. Dengue has taken hold in more than 100 (5+5)  countries, with roughly 50% (5) of the world’s population at risk.

The Telegraph. November 8, 2019

Spanish health authorities have confirmed a case of a man spreading dengue through sex, a world first for a virus which until recently was thought to be transmitted only by mosquitos.

The case concerns a 41-year-old man from Madrid who contracted dengue after having sex with his male partner who picked up the virus from a mosquito bite during a trip to Cuba, said Susana Jimenez of the Madrid region’s public health department.

His dengue infection was confirmed in September and it puzzled doctors because he had not travelled to a country where the disease, which causes severe flu-like symptoms such as high fever and body aches, is common, she added.

“His partner presented the same symptoms as him but lighter around ten days earlier, and he had previously visited Cuba and the Dominican Republic,” she said.

“An analysis of their sperm was carried out and it revealed that not only did they have dengue but that it was exactly the same virus which circulates in Cuba.”

A “likely’ case of sexual transmission of dengue between a man and a woman was the subject of a recent scientific article in South Korea, she said.

In an e-mail sent to AFP, the Stockholm-based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which monitors health and disease in Europe, said this was “to our knowledge, the first sexual transmission of the dengue virus among men who have sex with men.”

Dengue is transmitted mainly by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which thrives in densely-populated tropical climates and breeds in stagnant pools of water. It kills 10,000 people a year and infects over 100 million.

The disease is fatal only in extreme cases but the symptoms are extremely unpleasant, including a high fever, severe headaches and vomiting. It also exacts a heavy economic burden on countries as sufferers are unable to work, as well as overwhelming health services when there is a severe outbreak.

It is most serious – and deadly – in children, especially young girls. Scientists do not know why.

Dengue is most commonly caught by people travelling to hotter climates such as South East Asia, Africa, Australia, the Caribbean and South and Central America.

Prevention is vital, as it is the main way to control disease – there are four strains of dengue, making it difficult to develop treatment options.

There is currently no specific drug to cure dengue and Dengvaxia, the first vaccine developed, is effective only in people who have already had the disease.

Researchers announced earlier this year that they expect the disease will spread across much of the globe within the next 60 years. They say dengue, also known as “break-bone fever” because of the joint pain it causes, will threaten 60 per cent of the world’s population, or six billion people, by 2080.

The greatest increase is expected to be in Africa, but much of the south eastern United States is predicted to see a rise in the disease, as is Australia, parts of southern Europe, and many larger cities in southern China and Japan.

In the 1970s the flu-like virus was endemic in just nine countries.

But now severe dengue has taken hold in more than 100 countries, with roughly half of the world’s population at risk. Incidence rates are spreading as a result of a combination of rapid, unplanned urbanisation, increasing intercontinental travel and the warming temperatures caused by climate change, experts have warned. 

In July Bangladesh faced its worst dengue outbreak in history after more than 1,300 people were diagnosed in 24 hours in one hospital.

In September Nepal also announced an unprecedented outbreak.

India, to combat the threat, has agreed to trial an innovative technique which sterilises mosquitoes with radiation.

The sterile insect technique (SIT) exposes male mosquitoes to enough radiation to sterilise them. They are then released into the wild en masse to mate with females, who then do not reproduce.

Over time, it is hoped that the technique will reduce the population as fewer mosquitoes will be born.

SIT has been used successfully in parts of Africa, such as Senegal, to eradicate the tsetse fly which transmits sleeping sickness.