Mosquito Updates From Island Sources

[gtaylor]

Health authorities in Dominica (that's not the Dominican Republic) indicate that there are now 13 confirmed cases, up from 4.

 

A report from Saba, the little island adjacent to St. Maarten, has reported an alert that the island is at 'great risk' of Chikungunya (no reported infections yet) in addition to Dengue.

 

gary

[skipsaur]

The "mosquito" reports have been really good from cruisers and also from a couple that visited the island for a week recently, and not one cruiser has reported seeing mosquitos on the ship.

 

A couple posts above yours, I just said that I was recently in St Maarten and DID get a mosquito bite after getting back on the ship, actually sometime overnight, after our ship had already left port. It's true, I didn't see mosquitoes on the ship, but I think a lot of the bites are caused by "no-see-ums" anyway. You won't see clouds of mosquitos in St Maarten or on the ship, but you might still get a few mosquito bites, like I did.

 

Was just there 2 weeks ago.

[Karysa]

A couple posts above yours, I just said that I was recently in St Maarten and DID get a mosquito bite after getting back on the ship, actually sometime overnight, after our ship had already left port. It's true, I didn't see mosquitoes on the ship, but I think a lot of the bites are caused by "no-see-ums" anyway. You won't see clouds of mosquitos in St Maarten or on the ship, but you might still get a few mosquito bites, like I did.

 

Was just there 2 weeks ago.

 

Sorry for missing you. I actually do remember reading your story and was actually hoping you would come back. No see ums can be a nuisance. They leave me alone when I put skin so soft by Avon on. Did you wear mosquito repellant while on the island? You actually think that you got bit by a mosquito on the ship? Wow that is indeed a first. I have never seen a mosquito on a ship on any of my cruises.

 

Edit: I got my answer from your other post- you did not use mosquito repellent

Edited February 13, 2014 by Karysa

[mcrcruiser]

Sorry for missing you. I actually do remember reading your story and was actually hoping you would come back. No see ums can be a nuisance. They leave me alone when I put skin so soft by Avon on. Did you wear mosquito repellant while on the island? You actually think that you got bit by a mosquito on the ship? Wow that is indeed a first. I have never seen a mosquito on a ship on any of my cruises.

 

Edit: I got my answer from your other post- you did not use mosquito repellent

 

If there is absence of sea breezes & the air is calm mosquitos can climb very high & then can board a ship .They also can hitch a ride on produce brought into a ship . This will happen in a infested area more likely than a non infested area .Thus ,this virus born by mosquitos is a new occurance ;which only recently hit St Martin & 8 other island nations . Thus ,the likely probablility of boarding ships is real :eek:

[Karysa]

If there is absence of sea breezes & the air is calm mosquitos can climb very high & then can board a ship .They also can hitch a ride on produce brought into a ship . This will happen in a infested area more likely than a non infested area .Thus ,this virus born by mosquitos is a new occurance ;which only recently hit St Martin & 8 other island nations . Thus ,the likely probablility of boarding ships is real :eek:

 

No one said that there was an infestation of Mosquitos in St. Maarten especially near the ship or town. With the fogging and diligence of removing standing water as of late I think anyone who has done any reading on how and where Mosquitos breed would know that.

[mcrcruiser]

No one said that there was an infestation of Mosquitos in St. Maarten especially near the ship or town. With the fogging and diligence of removing standing water as of late I think anyone who has done any reading on how and where Mosquitos breed would know that.

 

 

Really :rolleyes: then the media is telingl all of us stories :p

 

Fogging how much ,where ,& best of all how often ????? :rolleyes:

 

We will stay with the possibility that in a highly infested area , virus laden mosquitos could find their way onto a ship & yes bite:eek:

 

We have lots of mosquito repellent & we will be using it on while on the ship in St Maarten /St Martin:D .

 

Karysa keep enjoying your dreams :cool:

[Karysa]

Really :rolleyes: then the media is telingl all of us stories :p

 

Fogging how much ,where ,& best of all how often ????? :rolleyes:

 

We will stay with the possibility that in a highly infested area , virus laden mosquitos could find their way onto a ship & yes bite:eek:

 

We have lots of mosquito repellent & we will be using it on while on the ship in St Maarten /St Martin:D .

 

Karysa keep enjoying your dreams :cool:

 

Most of us work too long and hard to worry about Mosquitos so armed with some bugspray and a good attitude I will enjoy my vacation and not allow pests to ruin it!

[helpmesailaway]

My husband and I visited St. Martaan the first week in Jan. I was VERY worried about the mosquitoes - and we have legitimate reasons to be.

 

I suggested we stay on the ship but my husband said let's just prepare and go - and we did. I purchased and used Natrapel Wipes on our exposed skin and then wore light weight long sleeves. We were on a Bernards tour. We did not see or experience 1 mosquito - and they like me! I think any "mosquito areas" were avoided.

 

We had a wonderful time. I have to add I DON"T like wearing any pesticide but peace of mind outweighed my dislike. The Natrapel wipes actually were not unpleasant - no horrible smell. I applied using a disposable glove that I bought for this purpose or you could hold the wipe with a tissue. I didn't apply anywhere near my face.

 

I believe if precautions are taken, a wonderful day can be enjoyed.

[mcrcruiser]

My husband and I visited St. Martaan the first week in Jan. I was VERY worried about the mosquitoes - and we have legitimate reasons to be.

 

I suggested we stay on the ship but my husband said let's just prepare and go - and we did. I purchased and used Natrapel Wipes on our exposed skin and then wore light weight long sleeves. We were on a Bernards tour. We did not see or experience 1 mosquito - and they like me! I think any "mosquito areas" were avoided.

 

We had a wonderful time. I have to add I DON"T like wearing any pesticide but peace of mind outweighed my dislike. The Natrapel wipes actually were not unpleasant - no horrible smell. I applied using a disposable glove that I bought for this purpose or you could hold the wipe with a tissue. I didn't apply anywhere near my face.

 

 

 

I believe if precautions are taken, a wonderful day can be enjoyed.

 

 

We are glad that you enjoyed yourselves on the island :).We have been to both sides 3 times in the past .Thus ,staying on the ship is our precaution & we won't be missing any thing .;) In fact we will enjoy ourselves with a near empty ship as we can doo so much more:D

 

As always each person has to make their own decisions .knowing the facts & then adjusting is always a personal decision ;)

[wshaw859]

Feb 14, 2014

 

Weekly report by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) released Feb. 14: "Combined with local media reports quoting government sources, the total number of confirmed and probable cases of this mosquito borne illness has reached 2,115. That is an increase of 662 illnesses in the last week."

 

844 Martinique (a 63 percent increase in illnesses in the last week)

653 The French side of St. Martin

270 St. Barts

253 Guadeloupe

65 Dutch St Martin

13 Dominica English-speaking

6 British Virgin islands

 

"Aruba, Anguilla and French Guyana are seeing imported cases thus far."

 

http://www.examiner.com/article/chikungunya-cases-now-over-2-100-eastern-caribbean

[drdewrag]

Thanks again for the updates!

[mcrcruiser]

Feb 14, 2014

 

Weekly report by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) released Feb. 14: "Combined with local media reports quoting government sources, the total number of confirmed and probable cases of this mosquito borne illness has reached 2,115. That is an increase of 662 illnesses in the last week."

 

844 Martinique (a 63 percent increase in illnesses in the last week)

653 The French side of St. Martin

270 St. Barts

253 Guadeloupe

65 Dutch St Martin

13 Dominica English-speaking

6 British Virgin islands

 

"Aruba, Anguilla and French Guyana are seeing imported cases thus far."

 

http://www.examiner.com/article/chikungunya-cases-now-over-2-100-eastern-caribbean

 

 

Thanks for the udate . We knew that this virus would spread because lack of teeth in government mandates to stamp it out ,lack of funds ,& lack of management abilities on these islands :o

 

Sorry to see people lose their incomes but unless their governments mobilize & not take a nonproactive attitude ,this virus will keep spreading & people will stop going to vacation on the infected islands :eek:

 

On a personal note ,we hope that oyu are feeling a lot better & getting back to the health level you had been before that mosquito bite;):)

[wshaw859]

On 17 Feb, 2014 At 09:45 PM

 

The claim by the St Martin government that no visitors to St Martin have been infected has been contradicted by the Aruba Morning News, just posted online:

 

http://themorningnewsaruba.com/health/chikungunya-virus-hits-the-caribbean/

 

"On January 30, 2014 the Aruba Health Department officially received the results of 3 alleged Chikungunya cases on Aruba. Only one person was positively diagnosed; a 57-year old male person who visited St. Martin (French side). Immediately all concerned agencies were alerted to avoid a break-out on Aruba."

 

Given the painful arthralgia symptoms and bone pain, I don't think that 57 year-old traveler to Aruba from St Martin is going very far ... at least for a while.

 

The problem with diagnosing CHIKV is that the antibody is only detectable for a short period of time (a few weeks) and even in those who have tested for live virus in the blood, only about 47% have detectable antibodies in the weeks that follow.

 

An estimated 28% of those infected show few or no symptoms and therefore are likely to escape surveillance. Worse still, they may present a relatively healthy reservoir for spreading the virus locally and among the islands. Very little is known about the non-symptomatics: does the lack of symptoms render them "typhoid Mary's" in the Chikungunya sense?

 

Chikungunya Fever is on the move...

[wshaw859]

The French team arrived last week to assess the CHIKV epidemic on St Martin. The French authorities blame the Dutch side for their high infection numbers:

 

"Asked about the disparity of figures with the Dutch side, Godefroy said that was probably due to persons who preferred to be tested on the French side instead of the Dutch side and therefore become included in the French-side figures."

 

Also: "Pascal Godefroy noted that although the epidemic is serious, it is under control."

 

It is seriously ... under control? Seriously?

 

http://www.thedailyherald.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46010:officials-here-to-supervise-chikungunya-operations&catid=1:islands-news&Itemid=54

[Ed Munster]

No one said that there was an infestation of Mosquitos in St. Maarten especially near the ship or town.

 

So the mosquitos on the island only speak French?;)

[Ed Munster]

 

Reports indicate that a total of 40 Chikungunya cases have now been confirmed. The cases are from areas on the island that cruisers (and even most stay-overs) would not be visiting much, Dutch Quarter, St. Peters and Dutch Cul de Sac.

 

Dutch side government has today deployed a group of 30 country-wide to assess and identify problem areas for mosquito breeding and risk areas.

 

This is in addition to the fogging operations that begin again tomorrow (Wednesday).

 

gary

 

None of this is true. Do you work for the cruise industry?

 

Another post today indicates the Dutch side has a big problem but the sick run over to the French side to get treatment or testing. The French are blaming the Dutch.

 

As to all the fogging, it not only did not work but may have given a false sense of security.

 

The virus is spreading like wildfire and people leaving St Martin are taking the virus with them to places like Puerto Rico, Aruba, Martique, etc.

 

Ed

[tinykygal]

Not good news for me, even with DEET..mosquito magnet.

Benadryl going to be packed. :mad:

Please keep us updated and I will continue to check CDC

[Ed Munster]

If there is absence of sea breezes & the air is calm mosquitos can climb very high & then can board a ship .They also can hitch a ride on produce brought into a ship . This will happen in a infested area more likely than a non infested area .Thus ,this virus born by mosquitos is a new occurance ;which only recently hit St Martin & 8 other island nations . Thus ,the likely probablility of boarding ships is real :eek:

 

Interesting. The Oasis of the Seas has a huge onboard jungle. I wonder how many mosquitos are nesting on board spreading the infection among the 8,000+ people that cycle through that ship every single week?

 

Doesn't anyone think these cruise lines are part of the problem now?

 

How dare they expose retirees to this dangerous, crippling and potentially lethal infection? (yes, the more the bug is being studied, they are finding more deaths)

 

I think its time to regulate these greedy transnational corporations that headquarter in the U.S., pay no taxes, register their ships in foreign ports and call on the U.S. to SOS.

[RMH]

Interesting. The Oasis of the Seas has a huge onboard jungle. I wonder how many mosquitos are nesting on board spreading the infection among the 8,000+ people that cycle through that ship every single week?

 

Doesn't anyone think these cruise lines are part of the problem now?

 

How dare they expose retirees to this dangerous, crippling and potentially lethal infection? (yes, the more the bug is being studied, they are finding more deaths)

 

I think its time to regulate these greedy transnational corporations that headquarter in the U.S., pay no taxes, register their ships in foreign ports and call on the U.S. to SOS.

 

Here we go again - another Fear Monger with an obvious agenda and no credentials with 6 whole posts. Do all of us that want actual questions answered a favor and take it somewhere else.

 

I for one will take my chances and believe Gary who has a provided continual good information backed by actual facts for a long time.

[smilz]

Certainly not to downplay how dangerous insect born viruses are, but mosquitoes are worldwide and are difficult to control once they breed I live in NJ and we fight an ongoing battle with West Nile Virus in our area. We check our yard daily for standing water, keep our screens in good repair, we avoid going outside in grassy areas early in the day and at dusk and NEVER after dark. Everyone wears spray, repellant bracelets, belt gizmos, have tiki torches, zappers and assorted other doodads that take your money. The mosquitoes still come. And every year a few people die from WNV. We are as careful as we can be but we don't stay holed up indoors. Not sure how I feel about increasing my risk on a vacation but I doubt whether anyone on this site has the true statistics on how many confirmed and suspected cases of CV there really are. Even under the best scrutiny, factual information gets disseminated very slowly. If you do go, be smart and prepared.

[Ed Munster]

Here we go again - another Fear Monger with an obvious agenda and no credentials with 6 whole posts. Do all of us that want actual questions answered a favor and take it somewhere else.

 

I for one will take my chances and believe Gary who has a provided continual good information backed by actual facts for a long time.

 

Gary has not provided factual information, far from it. But again, someone who seems more interested in attacking the messenger, or the whistleblower

 

Obviously you are motivated to do that, but the question stands:

 

What about infected mosquitos in the jungle on the Oasis of the Seas?

 

Shouldn't the CDC require this ship to undergo quarantine upon arrival in the United States from the epicenter of the epidemic on St. Martin?

 

More questions that the cruise industry pimps aren't happy about.

 

Where are the answers???

:rolleyes:

[Ed Munster]

Even under the best scrutiny, factual information gets disseminated very slowly. If you do go, be smart and prepared.

 

Those mosquitos are the same transmitters of the Chikungunya Fever Virus.

 

Question: have the cruise lines become the True Vectors of this horrible crippling virus.

[Ed Munster]

Here we go again - another Fear Monger with an obvious agenda and no credentials with 6 whole posts.

 

Isn't it against the Terms and Conditions to attack people on the basis of their posting history?

 

Why yes it is!;)

[RMH]

Mr. Munster - Your questions don't really have verifiable answers, but in the off chance you are actually interested getting answers, I will give it my best shot.

 

#1 What about infected mosquitos in the jungle on the Oasis of the Seas? - A Google search only showed one web page (this cruise critic discussion) that included 'mosquito' and 'Oasis of the Sea' together. There was one news article in 2009 that had a advertisement for mosquito repellent on the same page as an Oasis article, but other than that nada. I am concluding there is no infected mosquito problem in the Oasis jungle, but I can't prove that. If you have anything to refute that, I would be very curious to see it.

 

#2 Shouldn't the CDC require this ship to undergo quarantine upon arrival in the United States from the epicenter of the epidemic on St. Martin? - Uh, no. This is an opinion question and that is mine. But I can only imagine what would happen if they quarantined a ship, any cruise ship, for visiting St Martin. Maybe I am in the minority with my opinion, but I think that reaction is a tad overboard - no pun intended. Again, anything you have to the contrary would be welcomed.

 

#3 have the cruise lines become the True Vectors of this horrible crippling virus. I got nothing for this one. Not sure why 'true vectors' is capitalized unless is it the name of a Satanic cult or other organization that is trying to secretly take over the world. If that is your theory, I am going to have to vote against that one as well.

 

#4 Isn't it against the Terms and Conditions to attack people on the basis of their posting history? Probably. (Full Disclosure: I did not actually read them). If the moderator finds my actions out of line, the he/she should remove them. However, in lieu of the outrageous (IMO) conclusions you seem to arrive at from a serious, but not end-of-the-world, outbreak in St Martin, it seems like someone should call you out before you get really carried away.

 

Now, before you play the 'industry shill' card please realize that there is no cruise industry in Southern Colorado and my only interest in the industry as a whole is how I can best take my family on a wonderful vacation.

Edited February 19, 2014 by RMH

[Ed Munster]

 

Mr. Munster - Your questions don't really have verifiable answers...

 

<speculation>

 

Now, before you play the 'industry shill' card please realize that there is no cruise industry in Southern Colorado and my only interest in the industry as a whole is how I can best take my family on a wonderful vacation.

 

Wonderful. Go have fun.