For nearly 4 years we have been researching Dengue on Bonaire. In 2008-9 when there was a large outbreak, we noticed that the number of cases in Belnem was disproportionately high. Now we seem to have the same situation recurring, many cases in the belnem area. WHY?
The virus is carried by the Aedis Aegypti mosquito which has very particular living and breeding habits. It does not live in the large puddles or wate water lying around, or in any ponds that contain wildlife such as frogs or any decaying vegetable matter - dead leaves etc. It definitely does not live or breed in salty or brackish water.
Where it likes to breed is in fresh water, in the shade. We have seen it breeding in 1cm of water, so it is not looking for a deep bucket. Also, it leaves near its food source, usually withn about 50-60metres of people, so your back yard is prime real estate for this mosquito. All of these facts you can find for yourself with a simple search on Google.

So why Belnem?
If you live in Belnem, look around you - how many houses near you are unoccupied at the moment? A number of houses in the area are owned by people who spend only part of the year here. I would bet that in many of those yards there are containers of some type which have collected rain water. it could be paint tin lids, flower pots and trays, almost anything in fact that can hold water.

If you have access to the yard of a house which has no-one in residence at the moment, check it out!! Of course you need to check your own yard as well.
If you find any standing water, empty it. if there is something that cannot be emptied, like a water feature, put some coarse sea salt in there - they cannot breed in salty water.
We have more information on Dengue on our website, we are not trying to sell you anything by asking you to visit it: If the mods take it out so be it, but here is the site: www.harmonyhousebonaire.com

I asked in Belnem on the Watchdog Blog, there are not many cases in Belnem... only 2 persons replied they have it and got it elsewhere.
As by my information there are lots of cases in Rincon (and I think that is where I and one of our guests got it when having lunch there, our partners did not get it) and Amboina ....
These 2 neighbourhoods have been visited the last to week ends by the Hygenic Service (was in the news papers) and the next week ends they will continue with other neighbourhoods of Bonaire .....

Thanks for the info Phil....Please keep us informed of any new infomation you might come across.

brigette... over here on Lima, my brother contracted dengue last week .. he is sure it happened here at home

Thanks for providing this information . I contracted Dengue early 2009 , yes while staying in Belnam .
You are right about breeding areas , we found one sitting on two drops of water in our coffee pot .
I got only four known bites on my last day , got home and five days later all hell broke out .
I was one of those that felt the effect for many weeks .
Those skeeters can be a lot more than just a nuisance , keep up the good work .

Day 12 and recovering from this nasty virus. I think it is all over the island as I know way too many who have had or currently are doing battle.

Vigilance about removing standing water is a good thing. Another is using deet especially during daylight hours.

The spray truck was here in Niki Boko last week and made a big difference in the mosquito population.

Oh No Susan, sorry to hear about this. Wishing you well.

Unfortunately the spray truck is only a partial answer. They spray the middle of the road - why?
They use a poison that is a neurotoxin to many of the creatures that kill mosquito larvae - like frogs, dragonflies and many others. the people handling it on the truck do not even wear gloves when handling it - I guess they haven't been allowed to read the label!
The poison used has no effect on eggs and larvae. so it is only a very short term fix at best. By the way if you see disorientated birds in your yard, wandering around for a few days and then just dying - the spray does that. there is evidence that it also affects cats and dogs causing serious neurological problems.

it would be SO nice if the island would wake up to this and use something a little more eco-friendly - and effective!

Susan, I hope you are well SOON!!!

Susan, get well! And anyone else who gets Dengue!

Holy smoke, Susan. I hope you'll feel well very soon. DEET is on my list.

Update on dengue: a friend of mine living on Bonaire informed me today that there is an "epidemic" of dengue on Bonaire, that there are so many getting blood tests to find out conclusively if they have dengue, that they are being shipped to Curacao. Hopefully there will be less rain and fewer mosquitos in the next weeks.

Anyone else have news about how many people actually have or have had dengue in the past 4 months?

About Dengue in Belnem:
Thank you Phil for the work that you claim you have done. We stayed in Belnem recently. We landed at Flamingo with a small amount of mosquito repellant with carry-on luggage. We also had brought a large spray bottle of repellant with checked luggage. As Lloyd can confirm personally; Dengue has made a resurgence in the tropics; Bonaire included. We have returned to the US and have no symptoms. I do not think that we will. We took precautions. My advise is to stay vigilant if you go anywhere in the tropics on vacation right now. We actually looked forward to the evenings when "F" the Tree-frog and "G" the Gecko came out to feed. Not on us. We were waring DEET. My concern is more for the people who live in the tropics who are more likely to let their guard down as they live there every day. Make repellant application a ritual before above water activities right now while vacationing in the tropics!

Pauline - while I was on the island in January, I learned of one confirmed case of a resident. The comments I heard from my local friends were that there were many cases, but I don't have any hard facts besides the one confirmed case.

I will say that my friend was tested while I was there, but the results were negative for dengue, thankfully.

Despite suffering a few mosquito bites myself (I didn't use DEET at any time...not a fan of chemicals on my skin), I didn't contract dengue during my two weeks on the island. I stayed up in the Santa Barbara area, and the mosquitos didn't seem particularly bad up there. Lots of wind and little standing water, perhaps that helped keep things under control.

I agree with you Lizard in making an informed choice. We stayed in Belnem. Not on the water, and I have to say that in Jan/Feb the mosquitos really were not that bad in numbers compared to previous trips where we would return with just a few bites. I also agree that on the water where there is wind; it is difficult for the mosquito to bight. We simply decided that for this trip we would be more vigilant due to the world wide spike in cases. The possible mortality for this disease did not bring us to this conclusion. It is the acute phase morbidity that convinced us to use DEET. We also do not like chemicals on our skin. Make an informed decision! Base it on a cost/benifit ratio for you and yours. Do not use any product if you experience a sensitivity. Consult your physician if you have concerns and always when applying products to the skin of young children. Based on gestational period data: We did not contract Dengue while staying in Belnem.

Count me in as one who suffered. I didn't get blood work but had all the symptoms for 9 days after getting back from a Christmas trip(2 week vacation). We were 10 minute walk north of town, beside Yellow Submarine. I actually didn't feel good the entire last week of the vacation, but was not completely on my back.

3 dives, and 2 snorkels in 2 week vacation.

Dengue on Bonaire and Florida.
I was fortunate to review in detail the Dengue research done by Harmony House while on Bonaire last year. This led to an intense dialog with Stephanie and Phil. Their work is indeed impressive. I recommend anyone concerned with Dengue (also known as the "bone break" disease) at least read about what they have done with Dengue. They provide 2 affordable solutions for helping protect and helping recovery time. I have no commercial ties with HH.

For several years I have been field testing non-DEET repellents on Bonaire and many locations in the states and Iraq (sandflies and mosquitoes). Some work better than others, some work as well as DEET, others are buyer beware. I also continue to recommend folks read recent research about DEET as well.

Dengue has reached Florida in increasing numbers, as high as 5% of population carried the virus, in KW last summer.

Bud

Bud,
What non DEET repellant would you recommend?