So, the “deadly” Zika virus strikes again. This time it’s a mother and daughter from La Romaine, just outside San Fernando. And it comes about four weeks after the first case (the woman from Diego Martin) was diagnosed, confirming the World Health Organization’s (WHO) dire warning that the “dangerous” virus will “spread explosively” once it enters a country.
According to the mother, “Zika is not as horrible as you think.” Perhaps she meant to say “as you’ve been led to believe.” She said she was “slowed down a bit by the weakness but went about her usual business.” She added, “I’m doing quite well.”
Not bad for someone stricken by a “deadly, dangerous virus.” Nothing was mentioned about the daughter so we can assume she was also “doing quite well.” Which begs the question as to why the media keep using the term “the deadly Zika virus,” especially since no one has died from Zika since its discovery in 1947. Why create fear and panic unnecessarily?
What is curious is that no one seems to be asking the obvious question, “How did these people get the virus?” We were told that the Diego Martin woman had travelled to New Zealand but there’s no Zika there. The La Romaine couple “have not travelled anywhere recently and seldom leave San Fernando.”
We’ve been told that Zika is transmitted primarily by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito. The mosquito experts (including those at WHO) tell us that the Aedes Aegypti does not travel more than 300-400 metres during its lifetime. So if these people were infected by mosquito bites, who infected the mosquitoes?
We’ve been waiting for answers for a few weeks now from the Ministry of Health. Perhaps some answers will be forthcoming soon?
Noel Kalicharan