The Aedes aegypti mosquito
transmits Zika virus
The Photo: An Aedes aegypti
mosquito feeding. Photo by Muhammad Mahdi Karim (www.micro2macro.net) Facebook
YouTube - Own work, GFDL 1.2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11185617.
The Zika virus mosquito (Aedes aegypti) is a mosquito that
can be recognized by white markings on its legs and a marking in the form of a
lyre on the upper surface of the thorax. The mosquito originated in Africa but
is now found in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world and in
2015 was recognized as starting the Zika virus caused epidemic of babies with microcephaly.
The term refers to a rare neurological condition in which children have
unusually small heads. In many cases it also means a baby's brain is smaller
and may not have developed properly.
Lost
Cove, Virgin Gorda and Zika: The BVIs Government haven’t put out
much on limiting exposure to the Zika virus which is sure to be in the BVIs by
now. My caretaker staff overseen by the estate manager for my good friend Alice
Duchess of M**** who has an estate just over the ridge from mine has her staff
and mine ensuring there is no standing water where larvae can mature and power
foggers are spraying insecticides routinely. I’m now really of two minds about
vacationing at Lost Cove. I was so looking forward to several weeks of sun and
sand away from the seemingly perpetual rainy skies and gales of the UK. Now it
seems I may have waited too late to vacation there this year or until there is
a vaccine for Zika. Not that I want to get preggers, but to have to use condoms
with my partners while there and for several weeks afterward is such an inconvenience
and robs the act of a lot of the skin-on-skin intimacy and the actual exchange
of fluids which I so enjoy.
Still, our female staff and guests are cautioned to be sure
to use their birth control method(s) correctly since a bite from a Zika
carrying mosquito can doom a wanted pregnancy. So far the hierarchy of the
Catholic Church in Brazil where the virus seems to have first appeared in the
Americas has not officially taken a stand on aborting a Zika damaged pregnancy,
although one bishop has said a fetus with severe birth defects is no reason to
abort the pregnancy. Easy for him to say! He is undoubtedly the very model of a
19th centaury prelate poncing about in a dress with his head up his
a**! The Church is going to spring for
the care of all the micro cephalic infants that weren’t aborted because
abortion is illegal in Catholic South American countries, aren’t they! Oh yes!
No one should hold their breath! One hopes that South American political and Catholic
Church officials come to their senses and show the compassion they continually preach
to their flock in the cases of impaired pregnancies.
The 2016 Summer Olympic Games: There
are reports that health authorities in Brazil (where the pandemic began in
South America) are not being cooperative in supplying samples of the virus to
other countries researchers. This is said to have something with Brazilian
laws! Go figure! Earlier reports of sewage filled swimming competition
locations were bad enough! However, with what is known now about the hazards of
Zika (unless there is some miraculous scientific breakthrough that eradicates
Zika) I can’t imagine the 2016 Olympic Games (the XXXI Olympiad) being held as
currently scheduled in Rio de Janeiro from August 5th August 21st. Or if the games are not canceled the huge
disappointment to young couples trying to get pregnant canceling attending, or
risking infection and birth defects by attending.
Zika can be transmitted through sex:
The virus can stay active in blood for about a week and can be transmitted
through unprotected intercourse and active virus has now been found in saliva
and urine. It is not clear that Zika can be transmitted through saliva and
urine, but some authorities in Brazil recommend avoiding kissing. As this is
written it is unclear how long secretions from a Zika infected person can
transmit the virus to his or her partner. The US CDC is working on an answer.
For penile-vaginal intercourse this is making latex or nitrile condoms the
safest way to have sex with a person who has been in an area where Zika is
known to be active, but saliva and urine as possible virus transmitters makes
it a whole new ballgame putting kissing not to mention cunnilingus and fellatio
risky as well. Since the HIV virus can penetrate natural lamb condoms they
probably aren’t safe to use as protection from Zika either. Nothing has been
said (yet) about the virus in perspiration.
Zika is an Arbovirus so there is no quick field test to
determine if a person is infected. Blood test intervals of 4 to 14 days can be
expected depending on lab load which peaks in summer months.
NHS Zika guidelines can be found HERE
US CDC Zika diagnostic guidelines can be found HERE.
US CDC Zika Q&A can be found HERE
The Costume Club and Zika: The transmission of Zika through human secretions has caused
precautions to be taken with members of my London club in Kensington off
Holland Park road. The Costume Club, AKA Clever Cunts), is requiring members to
have a current passport showing they have not been in Central or South America or
other Zika affected areas for at least three weeks before being allowed to
exchange secretions with a Hostess. Otherwise it is using latex or nitrile
condoms for every act of anal, vaginal or oral intercourse. The Aedes aegypti
mosquito likes warm weather so England in the winter isn’t likely to breed
many, but travelers can bring the virus back to the UK. It would be bad enough
if a Hostess or two contracted Zika from a member, but since they are all using
very effective LARC methods of contraception there is little likelihood of a
Hostess becoming pregnant with an infant with serious birth defects. It is
thought that once infected with Zika a person builds up immunity and can not be
reinfected.
However, an infected Hostess could spread Zika to other club
members which is unacceptable. It is far more difficult to be dismissive about
a member contracting Zika from a Hostess and giving it to his mistress and/or
pregnant wife. The board of governors acted quickly and unanimously on that so
while there has been some grumbling, members understand.
The North Atlantic Drift: I’ve got
a few minutes to myself so I’m actually missing the desert weather in Las
Vegas. Go figure! The forecast for Llanidloes, the closest forecast to the
castle, calls for heavy rain for the next three days from all the relatively
warm air coming off the Atlantic dropping its moisture as it rises over the
Cambrian Mountains. It’s making me want to risk a trip to Lost Cove regardless
of the Zika virus.
The North Atlantic Drift is the eastern branch of the Gulf
Stream that turns south along the coast of Europe. The relatively warm waters
of the North Atlantic Drift are responsible for moderating the climate of
Western Europe, so that winters are less cold than would otherwise be expected
at its latitude. Without the warm North Atlantic Drift, the UK and other places
in Europe would be as cold as Canada, at the same latitude. For example,
without this steady stream of warmth the British Isles winters are estimated to
be more than 5 °C cooler, bringing the average December temperature in London
to about 2°C, 35.6°F. Due to climate change the west coast of England and Wales
is expected to get wetter and warmer over time.
