Hellobee Boards

Recently read this article from NPR:

http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/01/30/464740275/whats-the-best-way-to-keep-mosquitoes-from-biting

I'm a little concerned, even though I'm not pregnant and not planning on becoming pregnant. All of this talk is making me more informed and want to do as much as I can to prevent.

Not yet, this isn't a new virus, it's been known since the 1940's. I'm watching the CDC for updates, most media just wants to create drama and fear mongering.

I'm not too worried eventhough I received a half dozen nasty mosquito bites trekking through the Everglades a month ago. I read that mosquitoes can not fly long over long distances, so for now I am satisfied that cases of Zika in my state did not start here.

I don't anticipate it spreading too much here (except possibly in the FL Keys or extreme southern spots). I'm definitely not planning any travel to the affected areas for a few years, at least until we figure out more about the disease and it's effect on pregnant women.

I don't think it'll be in the NE US, at least not for a long time. Even with the Olympics. A mosquito would have to get on a plane. We don't have dengue fever up here, or chickungunya, or any of the other tropical mosquito-borne diseases (other than WNV and EEE, and even those are only around in the summer), so I have no reason to think this one will be different.

I am pregnant and AM avoiding travel to the Caribbean, though.

@Applesandbananas: it's actually quite unusual for viruses to spread that way, actually. If it's only one person infected, a mosquito would HAVE to bite that person within like a week, and live long enough to infect another person, and then it would probably die out. In the past most diseases don't spread well that way, or maybe one additional person will be infected but that's it. Again look at dengue fever and chikungunya- they've been endemic in central/south america for a long time and have never come up here.

ETA let me see if i can find an article explaining this

http://www.ajc.com/news/travel/why-zika-may-not-be-big-deal-america/nqGnm/

"According to Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec, an assistant professor in the department of environmental sciences at Emory College in Atlanta, it's relatively difficult for individual travelers infected abroad to spread Zika in the U.S. The primary reason is because most people infected with the virus clear it from their blood in less than a week. Mosquitoes can only become infected with the virus if they bite someone during that small window of time. Many travelers have cleared the virus before they even return to the U.S., Vazquez-Prokopec reported.

What's more, the mosquito doesn’t travel far from where it’s born, a limiting factor in its ability to spread the Zika virus. Moreover, in the U.S., most swamps are drained, eliminating a popular place where the bug lays eggs.

At a press conference on Thursday, American officials insisted that a Zika outbreak in the U.S. is unlikely and reminded people that the country’s history of mosquito-control efforts have previously suppressed other mosquito-borne illnesses such as dengue and chikungunya."

Here's another quote from the director of the CDC:

"Fauci is playing down the potential for a significant eruption of Zika here. He notes that dengue and chikungunya, diseases transmitted by the same kinds of mosquitoes, are widespread in Latin America. But their foothold in the United States has been controlled, with only small clusters of cases. “It is unlikely that we will have a major outbreak of Zika in this country,” Fauci said."

@JoJoGirl: Just FYI Dengue did make its way to the US a couple years ago. But it was in Key West and Miami I believe. It didn't even make its way up to the northern part of FL. Right now I'm just assuming this will follow a similar pattern.

@T.H.O.U.: Yes, I remember, but transmission wasn't sustained (ie it never became endemic in the US). I wouldn't be surprised if there are a handful of cases here but I don't think it'll explode like it has elsewhere.

@MrsLilybugg: I saw that today. So freaky!

@Mamaof2: Oh sweet lord, this is getting scary.

My governor declared a state of emergency in the three counties where there have been 9 confirmed cases. The cases were all travel related. What does concern me is that the virus was spread through sex in TX. There's so many unknowns here.

I'm not pregnant nor am I ttc, but I think the scariest part is how little we know about Zika. It seems like every night on the news there is a new theory, country affected, possibly associated disease (I saw guillain-barre last night wtf, now that shiz really scares me).
and on a related note, who agrees just how impossible it is to kill or control a mosquito population!?!? They always get into the house, there is always standing water somewhere (im looking at you trashy next door neighbors who don't maintain their yards), and despite bug spray I alllllways get bitten somewhere.

I'm not too worried about where I live (New England) but I'm mildly worried about our vacation to Orlando next week.

The CDC is saying it can effect adults as well. So scary.

@ocean81: I have been wondering about this. How would it affect adults? All the articles seem to focus on pregnant women and their fetus

@ValentineMommy: Hmm, great. This was what I read earlier: "A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official said Monday the virus is tied to birth defects other than microcephaly, and the mosquitoes that can carry it are present in 30 states."

@ValentineMommy: yikes!

@Mamaof2: I know, so scary. I'm in Massachusetts, so I am not sure it will come this far north, but anyways, the rest of my day at work is going to be researching bug sprays I can dump on my daughter.

@ocean81: That's what I've been doing!