The "A Travel Calamity" Story

It was an ordinary day.  That was until I opened the local newspaper to page A3 and began reading the article titled "MOSQUITO-BORNE VIRUS ALERT".  Seems that a brand new disease is out there to scare everyone and it is carried by the dreaded Asian tiger mosquito.  The disease, the Zika virus, is spread by the mosquito and causes microcephaly which is a birth defect that can be accompanied by seizures, vision problems and developmental disabilities.  If I were to be bitten by the mosquito I would more than likely have a fairly mild fever, rash and headaches.  

I figured it would be tough for me to get the fever in the first place since there allegedly are no Asian tiger mosquitos in my neighborhood.  But then I looked at chart that was next to the article and there, along with 21 other countries, was the country of St. Martin.  Wow!  We have another vacation planned for St. Martin during the year and now have one more item to worry about when we make our trip to the island.  Seems that just about every year there is another type of disease that we have to worry about while traveling to a particular island.  It was a few years ago that I had shingles while visiting St. Martin, but I doubt that being on the island was the cause of that illness.  The Zika virus is especially troublesome for pregnant women since the virus can spread to the fetus and cause microcephaly and severe birth defects.  In Brazil there have been 3,893 babies born with the disease since this past October.  Pretty scary!  My wife and I will not have to worry about birth defects, but just having a fever, rash and headaches could ruin a few days  of vacation time.  Gonna have to buy plenty of spray and lotion and stay lathered up during our stay in St. Martin to avoid the newest disease on the market.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.