Warning in St Maarten /St Martin

[gtaylor]

As I've posted here earlier, I believe that the Dutch side has been more diligent with public awareness/eradication/fogging operations than the French side.

 

There may be more large scale breeding areas on the French side, but some of the biggest problems are the discarded tires, flooded flower pots, open cisterns, etc. across the island.

 

gary

[Coastcruisers]

OP, thank you for bringing this current situation to everyone's attention.

 

Gary and Karysa, good to "see you" again, we just finalized our plans last night. We printed out the updated infromation provided as we were not aware of Chikungunya Fever at all. Pat spoke with Joyce last night, we are all set for May. I'll go over to the other thread and try to pick up where I left off months ago.

 

We hope this virus becomes controlled, and consistent precautions taken, the chart speaks for itself as related to the French side vs Dutch. We also hope it does not change our plans. Warnings are issued to anyone over the age of 65, anyone know if here has been any mention of consequences to infants?

[dodger1964]

If you are over 65 ,or have diabetes or high blood pressure or a heart problem your risk is highly elevated if you are bitten by the mosquito & contact Chikungunya virus /fever according to the CDC :o

 

I contacted my doctor to write a letter for cancellation ,if Celebrity continues to berth in these islands with this virus ;because we are in our mid 70s with medical conditions that put us at greater life threatening risks:eek:

 

Our schedule cruise to the Eastern Caribbean aboard Silhouette is March 2nd 2014:rolleyes:

 

I would think with the conditions you mention you could get a note for almost any port.

 

We are becoming a nation of worriers. (Right or wrong). Influenza/bird flu/noro virus/chikungunya virus/ our shadow.

 

I guess I don't know when something rises to the level that should induce mass hysteria, but I don't think this one has. From what I've read on the NUMEROUS threads on cc (without verifying if scientifically correct statements) the majority of the bites happen at dawn or dusk and not around the cruise ships.

[mcrcruiser]

I would think with the conditions you mention you could get a note for almost any port.

 

We are becoming a nation of worriers. (Right or wrong). Influenza/bird flu/noro virus/chikungunya virus/ our shadow.

 

I guess I don't know when something rises to the level that should induce mass hysteria, but I don't think this one has. From what I've read on the NUMEROUS threads on cc (without verifying if scientifically correct statements) the majority of the bites happen at dawn or dusk and not around the cruise ships.

 

Then you missed the fact that this mosquito is of the tiger variety & works 24/7 .:eek:

 

For the person inquiring about infants yes they are at high risk if bitten as their immune system is not fully developed:rolleyes: . The same goes for me that I a m75 with diabetes & high blood pressure .Thus ,my risk is very much elevated vs a younger person with a strong immune system :eek:. So far no known deaths ;but ,I believe in not to tempt & be safe not sorry;)

[thatbloominplace]

we are heading to the french side for a week in st. martin prior to our cruise on the windsurf. i have been following this news very carefully and have bought mosquito milk and other deet products to bring with us. i have also told my travel companions to bring long pants for our horseback riding time and evenings.

 

steve

[tumblew467]

I have found an article that is dated today on St marteen news network. It discusses emergency fogging.

http://www.smn-news.com/

[Holly2]

Thank you. That is the most helpful post on the subject I have seen.

[mcrcruiser]

I have found an article that is dated today on St marteen news network. It discusses emergency fogging.

http://www.smn-news.com/

 

Yes they have been doing fogging ;however ,there are areas that these mosquitos breed that the fogging doesn't get to .It is not the up to date technologies that we have available in the USA These are 3rd world nations with out the senses of urgency ,money ,management abilities ie Even here in the USA it would be a battle to kill this virus should it hit our shores .:eek:

[Karysa]

Yes they have been doing fogging ;however ,there are areas that these mosquitos breed that the fogging doesn't get to .It is not the up to date technologies that we have available in the USA These are 3rd world nations with out the senses of urgency ,money ,management abilities ie Even here in the USA it would be a battle to kill this virus should it hit our shores .:eek:

 

What an awful statement. I don't believe for a second that St. Maarten/St. Martin is "on island time" with this outbreak. The island relies on tourists, so even if that were the only motive for the government to act quickly it would be a good motive.

[OCruisers]

Just returned from St. Maarten (week of 1/25/14) with a shore excursion to Orient Beach on the French side, St. Martin, and are happy to report we nor anyone else had mosquito issues. :)

 

LuLu

~~~~

[mcrcruiser]

What an awful statement. I don't believe for a second that St. Maarten/St. Martin is "on island time" with this outbreak. The island relies on tourists, so even if that were the only motive for the government to act quickly it would be a good motive.

 

Bottom line is it is a test of time . I'll take the odds that they will have over their hands full . BtW & FWIW here is a anology ,one of the beaches on the Dutch side where this problem is lower with less cases reported ,has a pollution problem because of sewage running into a stream that runs into the Caribbean . Now if they are so good with getting the job done why haven't they stopped the pollution .Check it out . :eek:

 

We will be in St Martin /St Maarten the first week in March & we will see 1st hand if things have changed; as to the lowering of cases reported:eek:

[Karysa]

Bottom line is it is a test of time . I'll take the odds that they will have over their hands full . BtW & FWIW here is a anology ,one of the beaches on the Dutch side where this problem is lower with less cases reported ,has a pollution problem because of sewage running into a stream that runs into the Caribbean . Now if they are so good with getting the job done why haven't they stopped the pollution .Check it out . :eek:

 

We will be in St Martin /St Maarten the first week in March & we will see 1st hand if things have changed; as to the lowering of cases reported:eek:

 

Anyone can get bitten by a Chikunguya carrying mosquito and that includes Government officials and their family members. ;). Something's you can't avoid as easily as not swimming in Great Bay. BTW the Nature society has made some strides on the pollution issues in Great Bay. Judging by the people on here, as long as the water looks good there IS no issue.:rolleyes:

 

Are there not rivers or lakes where pollution issues keep people from swimming in the states? The RIVER in the city of Cleaveland once caught on fire. And just in case you are Canadian, Lake Ontario is just getting to where you can swim in it again in places. The pollution levels were too high for decades to be safe for swimming.

[Karysa]

OP, thank you for bringing this current situation to everyone's attention.

 

Gary and Karysa, good to "see you" again, we just finalized our plans last night. We printed out the updated infromation provided as we were not aware of Chikungunya Fever at all. Pat spoke with Joyce last night, we are all set for May. I'll go over to the other thread and try to pick up where I left off months ago.

 

We hope this virus becomes controlled, and consistent precautions taken, the chart speaks for itself as related to the French side vs Dutch. We also hope it does not change our plans. Warnings are issued to anyone over the age of 65, anyone know if here has been any mention of consequences to infants?

 

Hi.:) We never want to be considered boring over her on the St. Martin board lol. How did you find out about Chikunguya on St. Martin? BTW Avon has good bugspray products that work and are soft on the skin as well.

 

I think wshaw85 covered babies in one of their chapters on one of the mosquito threads on here. I don't have babies so I skipped that part.;)

[mcrcruiser]

Anyone can get bitten by a Chikunguya carrying mosquito and that includes Government officials and their family members. ;). Something's you can't avoid as easily as not swimming in Great Bay. BTW the Nature society has made some strides on the pollution issues in Great Bay. Judging by the people on here, as long as the water looks good there IS no issue.:rolleyes:

 

Are there not rivers or lakes where pollution issues keep people from swimming in the states? The RIVER in the city of Cleaveland once caught on fire. And just in case you are Canadian, Lake Ontario is just getting to where you can swim in it again in places. The pollution levels were too high for decades to be safe for swimming.

 

Nah I am a American & live in the great state of California where we take care of our environment:D . I also live where we have the greatest weather in the north coastal area of San Diego & we are definitely environmentally clean :D:D.

 

Here is my problem with the Caribbean islands that have been infected ,it does take them considerable time for them to respond to the crisis & the big question is where do the financial resources come from that could kill this virus & stop it from spreading ?:o

[Karysa]

Nah I am a American & live in the great state of California where we take care of our environment:D . I also live where we have the greatest weather in the north coastal area of San Diego & we are definitely environmentally clean :D:D.

 

Here is my problem with the Caribbean islands that have been infected ,it does take them considerable time for them to respond to the crisis & the big question is where do the financial resources come from that could kill this virus & stop it from spreading ?:o

 

Haven't you nearly run out of fresh water in California?:eek: Not an easy problem to fix.

Cruiseships bring in big money and the islands depend on them. From what I have read in the local paper it looks like the island is really trying to deal with this issue and I don't see that they are burying their heads in the sand just hoping that this problem goes away.

[mcrcruiser]

Haven't you nearly run out of fresh water in California?:eek: Not an easy problem to fix.

Cruiseships bring in big money and the islands depend on them. From what I have read in the local paper it looks like the island is really trying to deal with this issue and I don't see that they are burying their heads in the sand just hoping that this problem goes away.

 

LOL as far as where we live there is no present water shortage because San Diego has been conserving water for years :D.We now use less water than we did when the population was lower here in San Diego & that is documented .Southern Calif is in far better shape than northern Calif because we tap into the Colorado river water system;). Northern Calif mainly relies on the high Sierra Mountains snow packs & this is where the crux of the crisis is located:o

 

Regarding the virus . It has now spread over 5 islands & there is a article that curacao is preparing to battle the virus . Imo it is not a simple matter for these island economies to cancel out these problems .Most of the Caribbean has poverty & liking to parts of Africa & Asia where this virus started is because of poverty. They simply don't have the wear with all to control it . Best is to pray that they can control & eventually defeat this virus. Imo ,it will continue to spread for awhile longer .how much longer is simply a guess in time:rolleyes::eek:

[Karysa]

LOL as far as where we live there is no present water shortage because San Diego has been conserving water for years :D.We now use less water than we did when the population was lower here in San Diego & that is documented .Southern Calif is in far better shape than northern Calif because we tap into the Colorado river water system;). Northern Calif mainly relies on the high Sierra Mountains snow packs & this is where the crux of the crisis is located:o

 

Regarding the virus . It has now spread over 5 islands & there is a article that curacao is preparing to battle the virus . Imo it is not a simple matter for these island economies to cancel out these problems .Most of the Caribbean has poverty & liking to parts of Africa & Asia where this virus started is because of poverty. They simply don't have the wear with all to control it . Best is to pray that they can control & eventually defeat this virus. Imo ,it will continue to spread for awhile longer .how much longer is simply a guess in time:rolleyes::eek:

 

Many of the French Islands residents travel to the other French islands for business and pleasure. This must be part of the reason that these islands have more cases than most.

[mcrcruiser]

Many of the French Islands residents travel to the other French islands for business and pleasure. This must be part of the reason that these islands have more cases than most.

 

Thus spreading the virus .Then those in those islands go to other islands & keep spreading this virus:o . This would not be good for the future of the Caribbean islands:eek:

[Karysa]

Thus spreading the virus .Then those in those islands go to other islands & keep spreading this virus:o . This would not be good for the future of the Caribbean islands:eek:

 

That is my hypothesis anyways. Hence the urgency.

[mcrcruiser]

That is my hypothesis anyways. Hence the urgency.

 

Perhaps if the cruise line ships can't port in Caribbean islands ,then here on the West Coast we could get some of those ships, to do itineraries out in the Pacific Ocean ?

[navybankerteacher]

Perhaps if the cruise line ships can't port in Caribbean islands ,then here on the West Coast we could get some of those ships, to do itineraries out in the Pacific Ocean ?

 

Where is there to go for seven days out of a California port? Mazatlan, Cabo, etc. wear pretty thin pretty quickly. The Caribbean has dozens of destinations - admittedly they get tiresome too, but there are so many more. In summer there is always going north out of San Francisco or Seattle, but again to very limited destinations.

[navybankerteacher]

Thus spreading the virus .Then those in those islands go to other islands & keep spreading this virus:o . This would not be good for the future of the Caribbean islands:eek:

 

It is virtually certain that US cruisers will bring the virus back with them - certainly Florida, and probably Southern California and Texas will have to deal with controlling spread. And experience with fire ants and killer bees shows that even US technology and funding has its limits.

[CruiserFromMaine]

It might spread to the US but only because the mosquitoes come the US. It is transmitted by mosquito only according to the US CDC and WHO. People coming to the US with the virus will be miserable but not contagious.

 

Not to say mosquitoes won't come via ship but there is an important difference.

[Karysa]

It might spread to the US but only because the mosquitoes come the US. It is transmitted by mosquito only according to the US CDC and WHO. People coming to the US with the virus will be miserable but not contagious.

 

Not to say mosquitoes won't come via ship but there is an important difference.

 

I believe I got the way it spreads. Infected Mosquito bites Bob in Martinique;), a mosquito in Boston then bites Bob and gets infected. Hopefully Bob kills the mosquito but let's say he doesn't. Now the mosquito and Bob both are carriers. Please tell me if I got this correct.:)

[mcrcruiser]

Where is there to go for seven days out of a California port? Mazatlan, Cabo, etc. wear pretty thin pretty quickly. The Caribbean has dozens of destinations - admittedly they get tiresome too, but there are so many more. In summer there is always going north out of San Francisco or Seattle, but again to very limited destinations.

 

There are potentially several new itineraries that West Coast positioned ships could do .

 

One new itinerary could be from LA or SD to do a R/T to the Panama Canal & do a partial transit ala what is done now out of Florida ports :D

 

Another really nice trip would be for Celebrity & or RCCL to do a 28 to 30 day cruise R/T from LA or SD to Fiji , Tahiti islands ,Hawii islands ie :D

 

A third could be a R/T from either LA or SD from May to Sept to the Alaska ports .no airfares encounted :D .How about including ports like Kodiak island ,Valdez, Homer etc in Alaska besides Seward ;)

 

A 4th cruise could be a R/T again up to Vancouver & back stopping at Oregon ,SF ,Monterey ,Santa Barbara ie ,:D

 

We feel there are the above & or versions of the above . I am confident that their marketing /scheduling could develop very interesting itineraries ,if they put in the effort