The ZIKA Outbreak

[Yves]

This is part an opinion and part a question: if you are going to areas with mosquitoes (which means most of the tropics) wouldn't you already be thinking about precautions against malaria? That is, wearing the right clothes, using insect repellent and such? Would Zika require any additional measures that you would not be already taking regarding malaria?

Of course, travel insurance should be a given. I travelled two years in South America with no travel insurance and had no serious illness. (OK, I got hepatitis A, but I recovered and I was not even aware that was what it was at the time.) I consider myself very lucky. Wouldn't do it again without insurance.

Yes.. though when I was in Aruba in 2014 I wore shorts and a t-shirt all the time and I'd forgotten to pack any sort of insect repellent. Aruba is basically a desert so I don't recall a single bug bite the entire time. St-Lucia is tropical so I'll pack long sleeves, long pants, and 30% DEET ( made to repell Canadian bugs...as voracious as they come).

[Poisoned Youth]

Just seeing what folks here think as I'll probably get more useful info here than the sea of misinformation (to either cover up or scare the crap out of people) I'll get on the Net.

Yves, ask yourself where the people here on this site are getting the information they tell you!

There are plenty of reputable places on the net to find information for something like this. PE is likely to be very low on that list. It's like going to a Zika forum looking for music recs.

[WHORG]

Don't forget to pack the machetes in your carry on luggage.

[SteveSly]

This is part an opinion and part a question: if you are going to areas with mosquitoes (which means most of the tropics) wouldn't you already be thinking about precautions against malaria? That is, wearing the right clothes, using insect repellent and such? Would Zika require any additional measures that you would not be already taking regarding malaria?

Of course, travel insurance should be a given. I travelled two years in South America with no travel insurance and had no serious illness. (OK, I got hepatitis A, but I recovered and I was not even aware that was what it was at the time.) I consider myself very lucky. Wouldn't do it again without insurance.

I have been on many islands in the Caribbean and have never heard Malaria ever mentioned before. Parts of South America maybe, but not on the islands. I have never found mosquitos / bugs to be any worse down there than they are here in Michigan in the summer either.

[SteveSly]

Yes.. though when I was in Aruba in 2014 I wore shorts and a t-shirt all the time and I'd forgotten to pack any sort of insect repellent. Aruba is basically a desert so I don't recall a single bug bite the entire time. St-Lucia is tropical so I'll pack long sleeves, long pants, and 30% DEET ( made to repell Canadian bugs...as voracious as they come).

Every time I have been to St. Lucia it has been in the 90's and very humid. The last thing I would wear would be long sleeves and long pants. I pretty much stuck to tank tops and shorts. I do not remember any particular bug problems.

[JKL2000]

This is part an opinion and part a question: if you are going to areas with mosquitoes (which means most of the tropics) wouldn't you already be thinking about precautions against malaria? That is, wearing the right clothes, using insect repellent and such? Would Zika require any additional measures that you would not be already taking regarding malaria?

Of course, travel insurance should be a given. I travelled two years in South America with no travel insurance and had no serious illness. (OK, I got hepatitis A, but I recovered and I was not even aware that was what it was at the time.) I consider myself very lucky. Wouldn't do it again without insurance.

I've been to the Dominican Republic a couple of times, the Bahamas a few times, Mexico a couple of times, and Florida several times, and never taken any precautions against Malaria. But personally I'd avoid travelling there right now

However, if you ARE going, I'd consider trying to cancel your plans then rebook, in the hope of getting better rates thanks to the Zika virus.

[JKL2000]

I have been on many islands in the Caribbean and have never heard Malaria ever mentioned before. Parts of South America maybe, but not on the islands. I have never found mosquitos / bugs to be any worse down there than they are here in Michigan in the summer either.

It's not so much mosquitos being "worse" there. It's that there are specific species of mosquitos there that carry this virus,

[2steves]

I can not understand what god was thinking when he created mosquitos ---talk about a horrible worthless useless creation. Hate them.

[Yves]

Yves, ask yourself where the people here on this site are getting the information they tell you!

There are plenty of reputable places on the net to find information for something like this. PE is likely to be very low on that list. It's like going to a Zika forum looking for music recs.

PE has always surprised me. For all I know someone may have told us they work for the CDC. Or someone may have posted that they had just been to where I'm going the week prior to my departure and given me info about how the place has been dealing with containing the outbreak there... You know that any Caribbean destination will downplay this outbreak. They live off tourism and we're in their high season right now.

[ronmac]

I can not understand what god was thinking when he created mosquitos ---talk about a horrible worthless useless creation. Hate them.

There's a hell of a lot more to answer for than mosquitoes.

[Zeuhlmate]

I can not understand what god was thinking when he created mosquitos ---talk about a horrible worthless useless creation. Hate them.

Birds, bats and fish loves them for dinner.

[Klonk]

Don't forget to pack the machetes in your carry on luggage.

more important than toothpaste if you're gonna hike in a rain forest!

[Poisoned Youth]

PE has always surprised me. For all I know someone may have told us they work for the CDC. Or someone may have posted that they had just been to where I'm going the week prior to my departure and given me info about how the place has been dealing with containing the outbreak there... You know that any Caribbean destination will downplay this outbreak. They live off tourism and we're in their high season right now.

Do you think that travel forums are full of corporate plants as well? You're sure to get a wealth of useful information from people who actually travel to these locations.

When I took a cruise to the Caribbean a little over a year ago (and subsequently planning a new one), I got great information from users at TripAdvisor about the various ports, cruise tips, etc.

Here, took me 60 seconds to find a Zika thread on St. Lucia's forum. There's lot of great other information there as well. You may think I'm being snarky, but it's my concern you actually get the info you need. Call me silly that way.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...-St_Lucia.html

[Klonk]

Just buy a family of bats and train them to hang from your clothes.

[SteveSly]

It's not so much mosquitos being "worse" there. It's that there are specific species of mosquitos there that carry this virus,

True I guess. Still not something I typically worry about when going on vacation. In fact I am heading to South Florida in about 3 weeks and plan on doing all of my usual stuff.

[Vic2012]

You need to stop the mosquito and ask it if it's carrying the virus. Be polite and ask nicely. ....lol

[Poisoned Youth]

You need to stop the mosquito and ask it if it's carrying the virus. Be polite and ask nicely. ....lol

Of course, for all we know "Zika" is a curse word in their language. So carry a flyswatter just in case.

[Vic2012]

This is no laughing matter......

[WHORG]

A mosquito landed on my balls.

Hardest decision of my life.

[Vic2012]

I live in Miami. It's humid, tropical, and wet. I love it. Sue me. I don't remember the last time I was bitten by a skeeter. Truth.

[Vic2012]

It's 63 degrees right now. I've got a flannel shirt on. I hate this.

[JKL2000]

Just buy a family of bats and train them to hang from your clothes.

LOL Definitely the easiest solution.

[SteveSly]

It's 63 degrees right now. I've got a flannel shirt on. I hate this.

'

Dude, that's called summer in Michigan!

[Yves]

Made it back alive!Here are some photos:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/102902...h/24684641109/

[Zeuhlmate]

Lucky you !

The new theory about Zika is, that the cause of the shrunken head babies is not the zika virus, but all the stuff they are spraying against the mosqitoes. Sound mpre plausible to me.
http://thefreethoughtproject.com/doc...birth-defects/