Day 17 Tahiti Trip

Hi Patricia, I was looking for info about Tahiti and current outbreak and found your blog. Hope you are well and safe! Hope those mosquito bites were harmless! I'm also going to Tahiti in 3 weeks and wondering how the situation looks like over there.. Please let me know when you have time, I'd be grateful for first hand report.. Sincere wishes of mosquito free ending for your great trip! Ani

Hi,
I sure wish I could have found out more before I went there. But it was Nov 13 when I landed, and all I heard was the airline steward announce some mosquito virus. I thought it was the WEst Nile Virus. I went to the island of Raiatea, further north, and asked everyone about west nile virus and they said they had not heard about that. Of course not. lol. But they did mention Chikungunya when I got to Moorea on Nov 22. I already had 9 bites from Raiatea and 9 more on Moorea: total = 18 bites.

You need to know that I just retired from my job and turned 65 years old. I absolutely did not want nor need to get any virus within such a short time of my retirement as symptoms can last months or years. At my age, I am in the higher risk group as are infants and pregnant women. That said, I would not have traveled there probably if I had know how fast it was spreading. Oct 17= over 500 cases--Nov 7 approx. 4000? cases---nov 22 approx. 11000 cases---dec 1 approx. 19000 cases. Population of French Polynesia is around 250,000. Statistics are almost 1 in 10 are getting this virus, but the bigger news is that this is the rainy season which makes for more mosquitoes and dec is the heaviest rainfall.

When I was there, hardly anyone was concerned with the mosquitoes. And I have not had a fever either. However, I have a few more days before I will be absolutely sure. Many tourists did not know about the virus spreading. But even those who knew were going about without much ado. The only one concerned was Just me. :) Most travelers are younger as well and don't stay as long (20 days). They would go on the ATV's wearing shorts and sleeveless shirts with sandals. I think that was risky. If the number of cases goes from 19000 to 24000 by the time you are to go, I would really, really watch out.

I recommend if you could go another time in the future, do it. Otherwise, take 100% DEET or some equivalent, wear a wristband or fan powered belt attachment that releases repellant, and wear socks, long pants, and short sleeved shirts (as opposed to a tank top, etc) during early morning and late afternoon hours, which is when some articles say they feed. However, other articles say throughout the day.

Dengue Fever and Zika are other Mosquito viruses and have been in that area for a year or more. Employees from the hotel were getting sick too.

By the way, I want to travel to many different places, but Chikungunya is everywhere in the Carribean, Central America and much of South America. Since May 2014, there have been around 900,000 cases in the Carribean alone. (This includes suspected cases too).
I am disappointed because those are some of the countries I wanted to visit.

Refer to the following statistics from Dec 1, 2014.

Copied from Auckland REgional Health:
http://www.arphs.govt.nz/health-information/communicable-disease/dengue-fever-zika-chikungunya#.VIFDjGd0x7c

As at 1 December 2014, case numbers are:

Dengue
Fiji: over 25,300 cases, with 15 deaths (World Health Organisation)
French Polynesia: 2,188 cases, with one death (ongoing)
Vanuatu: 1,561 suspected cases, with two deaths
Solomon Islands: 1,872 cases
Tonga: 400 suspected cases (ongoing)
Tuvalu: 408 suspected cases
New Caledonia: 334 cases
Nauru: 251 suspected cases
Townsville, Queensland: 10 cases since February
Zika
French Polynesia: between 8,700 (Pacnet) and 33,000 (ProMED) suspected cases
New Caledonia: 1,400 cases
Cook Islands: 932 suspected cases

Chikungunya
French Polynesia: 18,352 cases (ongoing)
American Samoa: 1148 cases (ongoing
Samoa: more than 2500 suspected cases (ongoing)
Tokelau: 159 suspected cases (ongoing)
Tonga: more than 10,000 cases
Yap: 1711 cases

Thank you Patricia for very informative comment! I'm glad you are well and for now really hoping it will stay this way!!! You might be just lucky to escape without a... well with bites but without the fever :) We found out 2 days after booking nonrefundable flights and I cried like a baby.. Because before that we spent whole week looking for hotels, diving, trips etc and nothing prompted outbreak even though it was already spreading very fast! I was so excited when we first got the idea of French Polynesia, and then the dream became hard work in preparation for holidays.. But what can we do now.. We are both 35 but it doesn't mean that we take it lightly, I'm terrified of months of pain and suffering.. We bought permethrin to soak all our clothes and bags (it attacks mosquito's nervous system and they die on contact - safe for humans), etc. Tons of Picaridin (we will be diving and Deet melts everything on it's way) bought coils, other sprays, even bed net, because we will be staying in a "hut" on Fakarava (no window screens or ac) so at least we can prepare ourselves and be aware of the surroundings.. We planned it all for diving, going to Tahiti (hotel), Fakarava (beach hut) and Rangiroa (hotel)... so if we get sick it will be very expensive surface interval.. all is prepaid. Not to mention diving could be very dangerous if suddenly got symptoms..

I feel your disappointment, we like to travel too and places to go to are constantly getting hit by outbreaks, typhoons, floods, and civil unrest.. and no-one will tell you if you don't find info first on some random foreign website that you have to translate to know more.. and we did look for safety on FP but there was nothing worrying until we typed by accident specific words in a browser week later..

Just wondering if there are big swarms of mosquito everywhere to walk through..? or it is possible to protect yourself to some extent.. And if people that got sick just didn't use enough repellents over and over again? That's my hope OR maybe it's hopeless..

I too wanted to go to Rangiroa!! I am jealous. But one good thing is that those islands have much less exposure so I read. If it is windy, you will be safer. Eat meals where a breeze is blowing. Much fewer if any mosquitoes.

Make friends with people wherever you stay, then casually mention something about the mosquito viruses, & employees in particular will readily share what they know. But the 2 Atolls you are going to have very small populations. If you do find out where someone got chikungunya, just avoid that place. You know it spreads from mosquitoes biting infected humans so it might be real easy to choose less exposed spots. Stay underwater!!! Lol.

Have a good trip anyway. You have lots of protection now & really those islands have a low % of cases. I would stay covered if I went to the marketplace downtown Tahiti, or at least bring a lightweight covering.

From talking to employees & people who live there, I think they might not use strong stuff. Must say citronella smell keeps them away. The spray is just a repellent but it doesn't kill them like the product you bought. The only swarms were around bunches of bushes & at food stands. Or up in mountains. My motto is keep moving rather than standing still.
Let me know how it goes. When do you leave?

We are leaving on the 23rd Dec to Tahiti first for 4 nights, 7 Fakarava, 7 Rangiroa, back on 11th Jan. They already have it on Fakarava, some crew got sick from dive center.. no tourists yet though. Hoping by the time we get there all dirty mozzies will get blown out far away ;-)l I have to start packing this week to know what I'm taking to wear, so I can soak it all in permethrin before the trip.. so much for wearing bathing suit 24/7.. buying long breezy pants and light shirts....our Christmas adventures start to BUG me.. literally!!! Lol.

Hi,
Sorry, I was out of town visiting my daughter and their 4 new foster children. Combined with their 2 children and an exchange student, they now have 7 children and I was helping them.
So, if you check your email you may get this message.

I was going to say, you can stay in the ocean water longer each day so you can stay in your suit. lol. Anyway, you have been on your trip for awhile now and are probably assessing the situation yourselves.

Anyway, like I said, on the smaller islands you should have fewer problems.
I am thinking of you both and wish you well. If you feel like it, please share some of your experiences or email me photos at pbofilms@aol.com. Where do you live?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Trisha