Paparazzi unknowingly created more awareness about zika

If you are like me, then you almost never read any ‘news’ that comes out of the pen of a paparazzo. Paparazzi are often referred to as cockroaches, rats and people who will go to great lengths to snap an image of a celebrity. Often disregarding any form of decency, diplomacy or tact. But in the last week or so many articles from paparazzi kept popping up on my screen. The reason is simple: I use Google Alerts.
But hang on. My alert-words are ‘mosquito’, ‘mosquito trap’, ‘Aedes’, ‘dengue’, ‘zika’ and several others. Basically anything relating to mosquitoes and mosquito borne diseases. Mainly in the Asia-Pacific region. So why did I keep seeing the rather attractive face of a lady called Megan Markle on my screen? See her here, here and here.

Royalty visiting zika areas

All the hype has to do with the planned honeymoon of Prince Harry and Megan Markle.
So what?, do I hear you think.
It all has to do with the millions of Brits who are eagerly waiting for a baby and dream about reliving the royal wedding furore. (Imagine being a royal……!) Now that dream has been shattered for the near future.
Why? Because the royal couple will visit zika endemic areas.

On a more serious note, zika is not a joke. Most people who get infected might not even be aware that they have been in contact with the virus and fatalities are very rare. The real danger however is the possibility for the zika virus to infect a foetus and cause a serious brain deformation known as microcephaly. And since zika can be sexually transmitted, our royal pair needs to do “it” with a condom for at least the next six months. But I am sure they will survive that.

The need to explain

Back to the paparazzi. Even for them it would be cutting a royal corner by just saying that Megan won’t be pregnant for at least another six months. And to avoid this, they had to explain a bit more about zika, what it is and most importantly how it gets transmitted. Et voila, there is talk about mosquitoes and the diseases they can spread. In all the tabloids and even in some more serious newspapers. It will be impossible to measure, but I am convinced that more people are now aware about disease transmitting mosquitoes then before the announcement of the royal honeymoon. So kudos to the British paparazzi and the royal couple for creating a lot more awareness about mosquito borne diseases!

Of course I hope that the couple will stay free of zika. And there is a good chance they will.
And in case they ever think about buying a house in a tropical region, they should consider Biogents mosquito traps. Our traps don’t use insecticides and their baby will like that.
Unfortunately we don’t have a portable inflatable mosquito trap for them right now……..(I just get an idea….)

What do you think?