Bugs in Mexico

In Puert Vallarta, chewed up by mosquitoes and/biting flies. One bite on my foot so bad it felt as if my foot bones were broken, and I was unable to stand on it for several days. Massive headache,dizziness,  jaundiced eyes. Have had two near deadly bouts with malaria in East Africa. This isn't quite as bad but the Incubation period is 2-3 weeks. No malaria carrying mosquitoes here but dengue is confirmed.
Doctors injecting antibiotics daily for 7 days, somewhat better but still jaundice and headache. Anyone advise as to what may be going on? (Wearing DEET now; rainy season.)

Also, anyone in Vallarta know where I can procure a mosquito net?

Gracias, amigos.

I'm so Sorry SKYE,

It sounds like Chikungunya, which can cause high fever, join and muscle pain, and headache.
Given that dengue and chikungunya are virus I don't see how antibiotics would be helpful in that they depress immunity. It also sounds like your liver wasn't too happy about the whole thing. If it were me I would be really optimizing my vitamin C and probiotics to try and help your suppressed immunity.  Of course your previous Malaria exposure isn't making it easier. Dengue and chikungunya are often together apparently

Have you checked with Amazon regarding netting ? https://www.amazon.com.mx/OMorc-Magn%C3 … =mosquetos

The really nasty bite might be chiquistas (sp not in dictionary) which are like noseeums only quite nasty, they frequent dusty,damp areas,  and seem to travel like pollen, I tend to encounter them in the garden. Damp and dirt are two of their favorite things . House dust doesn't seem to be a problem. Like chiggers, you don't know they are there until you see a nasty very itchy bite which takes weeks to go away and may leave a bruise. I wash any area touching soil or leaves very quickly. green tea oil helps clear them faster. Some places have it in a paste ( the body shop) Green tea acts like an anti infection agent without all of the side effects. Antibiotics are useless on virus, but quite good at killing your normal gut bacteria and harming your immunity.

If I can help further please let me know.

Thanks so much for your advice and comments. I's become obvious to me that the injectiions of antibiotics aren't working, so you're right; this requires different treatment, which I will seek tomorrow. I'm felin somewhat better this evening, however, it seems a temporary placebo, two glasses of wine... Also, I would love to know if there's something I can use to repel bugs here besides DEET products. I'm a tough cookie, but this is a new situation and your advice is much appreciated.

SkyeMoody wrote:

Thanks so much for your advice and comments. I's become obvious to me that the injectiions of antibiotics aren't working, so you're right; this requires different treatment, which I will seek tomorrow. I'm felin somewhat better this evening, however, it seems a temporary placebo, two glasses of wine... Also, I would love to know if there's something I can use to repel bugs here besides DEET products. I'm a tough cookie, but this is a new situation and your advice is much appreciated.

Hi SKYE, glad you are feeling somewhat better. You are probably right it is placebo.
This is a particular bad Mosquito year, from what I have seen. Can't help but wonder what the recently released GE mosquito might have to do with it . They certainly haven't made the problem better, as promised.

What I have seen is a lot of opinions about what attracts the Mosquito. They include the color red, the color blue, and bananas. I haven't found any of that to be true.

What I have found is they love the American diet. They do prefer type O blood, but type B will do Their population is diminished by winds, so I have fans on at least medium 24/7. They are more present at night, as the sun is coming up and going down so I'm not out then unless there is a stiff breeze. They like fake scents, so perfume would be attractive. There are some more health oriented places in your area so you might want to check them out.

I test repellents every time I see a new organic one, but avoid chemical repellents. And I keep my screened windows in shape. They are unlikely to be out in the sun, so that's fairly safe., and I put bleach in every water source to try and reduce breeding grounds on the property. If people would stop leaving open containers out it would be wonderful. They only need a drop to breed in.

Currently I am using "FlY out" which is better than "off" I know what ever is on your skin will quickly be in your body so I don't use chemicals .

Diet is a big factor, I am primarily vegetarian, which I don't think they find appealing. When I first moved here I was using the pest plug in strips for a short time because I needed to get control of the environment. I stopped that years ago and only did it in some rooms at night when I was not around.

Hope some of this is helpful. Don't waste money on electronic gadgets, or citronella candles or torches. Citronella is in Fly out but that is different than candles. Lime and salt helps with the bites, and green tea oil.

In Oaxaca, we eat them.

joaquinx wrote:

In Oaxaca, we eat them.

Jajajaja

Do you sprinkle mosquito's over your cockroach salad ? or just eat them plain as you snatch them off of your arm?

Does indeed sound like chinkungunya,if the joint pain is still present.I caught it while living in southern Veracruz was down for two months,the doc told me there was nothing he could do,just rest and keep hydrated,

Con chile seco, muy rico.

indeed,in Morelia also.Some bugs are pretty tasty, Chapulines are sort of like grasshoppers 10 pesos la bolsa,eat them before they eat you thats what I say

stinkyboy1 wrote:

indeed,in Morelia also.Some bugs are pretty tasty, Chapulines are sort of like grasshoppers 10 pesos la bolsa,eat them before they eat you thats what I say

I will have to just trust you on that one. Enjoy ...

Other bugs to deal with, ant's followed by much smaller or larger ants. For the most part they are not a problem. But the very tiny faro ants would love to help with any oil you have. They don't like vinegar so I keep it handy. You don't notice them until there are about 100 of them over any thing oily. Your counter your stove, your lunch perhaps.

Termites here are voracious and fast , so bringing wood furniture is not a good idea. The wood used here is quite dense and not so appealing, but recently they turned part of the kitchen cabinet ( not dense wood) into a paper shell. The stuff needed to eliminate them is vile and not something you want to breath or touch.

Mexico . like some parts of the U.S. also has scorpions. The black ones sting but unless you are impaired don't do any real damage. Keep the bugs away and they will not show up. They are from the spider family after all. The sticky cockroach strips also take care of the little bugs the scorpions like. The tan colored scorpions are the ones that can make you very ill or maybe dead depending on the individuals health Those are closer to the border..

There are also spiders here and there is Mexico , The black widow and the brown spider being  most noteworthy. The areas near Arizona and Texas would be the most likely to have them.

Don't poison yourselves with pesticides. Just being clean, using hydrogen peroxide in the house and bleach in water areas outside should work . Keep some vinegar handy and some sticky pest strips and you will probably not see anything you can't deal with Bug wise.

travellight wrote:

joaquinx wrote:

In Oaxaca, we eat them.

Jajajaja

Do you sprinkle mosquito's over your cockroach salad ? or just eat them plain as you snatch them off of your arm?

In Coatepec, Veracruz, it's semi tropical.  There are flies that are so small that they get through any kind of screen.  If you don't watch carefully, one might land in your food without your noticing.  It's no joke.

On top of that, we have lot's of spiders with the occasional cucaracha.  At my age, I'm not too concerned about chemicals.  I do my best to keep surfaces free of food debris but I do spray crawling bug insecticide around all openings.

We get mosquitoes after heavy rains plus other zancudos (biting insects you don't see.) Usually they don't bother much.

A few mornings, very few mornings, I woke up with bug bites that seemed larger and more itchy than mosquito.  The lasted and seemed to get worse for 4 days before subsiding  Spider?

The constant annoyance are teeny, tiny ants that can get through any crack there is.  They don't bite but you may have hoards of them if you don't stay on guard.

gudgrief wrote:

travellight wrote:

joaquinx wrote:

In Oaxaca, we eat them.

Jajajaja

Do you sprinkle mosquito's over your cockroach salad ? or just eat them plain as you snatch them off of your arm?

In Coatepec, Veracruz, it's semi tropical.  There are flies that are so small that they get through any kind of screen.  If you don't watch carefully, one might land in your food without your noticing.  It's no joke.

On top of that, we have lot's of spiders with the occasional cucaracha.  At my age, I'm not too concerned about chemicals.  I do my best to keep surfaces free of food debris but I do spray crawling bug insecticide around all openings.

We get mosquitoes after heavy rains plus other zancudos (biting insects you don't see.) Usually they don't bother much.

A few mornings, very few mornings, I woke up with bug bites that seemed larger and more itchy than mosquito.  The lasted and seemed to get worse for 4 days before subsiding  Spider?

The constant annoyance are teeny, tiny ants that can get through any crack there is.  They don't bite but you may have hoards of them if you don't stay on guard.

Those bites that are red large and last a long time are chequistas ( never saw the spelling, so I'm guessing on that), a lot like Chiggers in the U.S. They get on your skin and you don't know they are there. It's a good idea to wash areas exposed to damp vegetation outside. Those bites are nasty.

The tiny ants are faro ants , they like any fat or oil quite a bit as well as dead bugs. they do not tolerate vinegar, but you have to be diligent and wipe your counters down with hydrogen peroxide.  I rarely see them now.

As for defense I use the mouse and cockroach sticky strips which quickly collect bugs. I see no reason to poison myself, to kill bugs.

Sticky strips?  Do you have a brand name?

gudgrief wrote:

Sticky strips?  Do you have a brand name?

I'm actually in Isla Mujere riding out Frankin at the moment, so I can't look at the box. I believe two companies make them , the boxes are yellow or black with big pictures of cartoon cockroaches or mice. Mega, soon to be Soriana stocks them as do many other stores EXCEPT Walmart.
The yellow strips for cockroaches work well on small bugs, the cockroaches are pretty smart so they can work their way off of the strips in time, so the mouse strips are better for them. Also because they are smart, for bugs, you have to change the location a little to keep them guessing. I got quite a laugh out of one trying to escape one of the traps, and me by running the other way directly on to a trap.

Between the traps, vinegar, and hydrogen peroxide, the house is usually bug free and all I have to do is put the traps in the trash and make the environment non ant friendly. With mosquitoes I initially used plug in pest control. I would plug them in over night. Now that they are controlled I just use bleach in wet areas to eliminate breeding zones.

I will check at a store here for the name and get back to you.

Thanks.
I did some Googling.
Amazon, Mexico carries some strips but I'll have to investigate further.
I didn't see anything like strips in Chedraui yesterday.  I'll check again.
Over the last to years, I've found lines of ants originating in a dozen different places so I'mm wondering how effective laying out strips might.

gudgrief wrote:

Thanks.
I did some Googling.
Amazon, Mexico carries some strips but I'll have to investigate further.
I didn't see anything like strips in Chedraui yesterday.  I'll check again.
Over the last to years, I've found lines of ants originating in a dozen different places so I'mm wondering how effective laying out strips might.

Oh strips don't work on the ants , they just go around them. It's almost every other bug strips work on. Fewer dead  not pesticide sprayed bugs eliminate a food source, and you can not spray every bug in your house. My housekeeper has been amazed at how many types of bugs those strips kill.

The ants require eliminating what they like. which is anything that has fat or oil an they like dead clean bugs and other dead things.
The former manager of the house I am renting left a sandwich for her maid on the counter and when the maid went there it was covered with faro ants.
They are very fast and come quickly. So use hydrogen peroxide and vinegar to get rid of any hint of fatty foods,
I have never seen them going after sweet things. Honey and maple syrup is on my shelf and they don't touch it. I don't think a spray of pesticide does much to them either. Bleach based oven cleaner also works on them. But who wants everything smelling like bleach. I use it when I see a new group coming down the wall. Its a quick fix.

Like cockroaches they are ancient survivors, nothing like U.S. ants.

These pesky creatures--faro ants, I believe,--are swarming over my balcony plants. Any suggestions for eliminating them from hibiscus, gardenia and bouganviella?

SkyeMoody wrote:

These pesky creatures--faro ants, I believe,--are swarming over my balcony plants. Any suggestions for eliminating them from hibiscus, gardenia and bouganviella?

Yeah they are stubborn, my guess is the plant  has aphids. They like aphids, so they are not attacking the hibiscus, but eating its bug problem. So soap water, insecticidal soap, or beneficial insects, what ever is available in your area. Hibiscus is in the mallow family rose related  so rose pests.

I haven't seen aphids on my Gardenias or bougainvillea but I know iguana just love gardenias , garlic slows that problem down. They eat the flowers very quickly. Bougenvillea can attract small groups of aphids  and white flys Gardenias can attract aphids also but I haven't seen any, just the iguanas.

So your plants are very popular with the aphids. eliminate the aphids and the ants should go.

Wow, that's very interesting. Thanls for your suggestions. I'll put them to the test.
Actually, I wouldn't mind an iguana on my balcony, as long as it doesn't take over my chair!

I am constantly amazed at the absence of flying bugs here in Mexico City!!! In the past year, my 4th floor apartment which has one window off the kitchen opened 24x7 has had less than a handful of flies and only one mosquito! Compared to my home in Dallas with the yard and closed windows bombarded by armored, dive-bombing, flying beetles, flies small to large inside and out, and mosquitoes owning my much missed yard....I can say NO PROBLEM WITH FLYING BUGS IN MEXICO CITY!!! The cockroaches outlasted the dinosaurs and they will outlast us:) I do not have a problem with them where I live here, but in my home in TX I used boric acid behind the frig (not pet safe so where kitties could not reach) and sprinkled food grade diatomaceous earth around doors, windows, tubs, sinks, etc. if and when I spotted one. I have visited many cities here in Mexico and have not encountered any problem with cockroaches in any of the hotel rooms or airnb rentals. HOpe that helps:)

In Oaxaca I just moved into this new house with teeny tiny little circular bugs that leave nasty patches of bites 😭 can't be bed bugs cause all the furniture is new and they're sooo tiny barely can catch them on camera. Any advice??

@Sauleilonavaida If you want any advice do you have an email where we both could get to talk and advice each other? You know even the chair is new you just have to take care of it in good and proper way by not letting it get much in the house? So what i suggest you do is get the flits for it i can sell them to you...

food grade diatomaceous earth around doors, windows, tubs, sinks, etc

Diatomaceous earth,,, finally someone mentions the inert, food safe compound that destroys anything with an exoskeleton. Ants carry the powder back home and the whole family gets coated and succumbs.

It is THE best answer to safely destroying little crawly insects by far!!!!!

I have not found it in Mexico, nor have i looked for it, yet, but in Canada it is available at every hardware store, food supply, Home Depot, farm supply stores in bulk. Farmers mix it in with cow feed. It is also used in swimming pool sand filters it's so fine.

@Solo777  Hi have you tried the pet stores or the vets office.

@travellight UG!!!!!!  This means that you have to see them stuck to this medium.  That would totally totally freak me out

@travellight Great info.  I live in TX.  We are supposed to have the deadly brown spider and the black widow.  I have heard stories...........but so far have not seen any in or near my home.  Man, how do repair guys work in attics for plumbing, heat and A/C work.  Your life is in danger of maybe facing the brown spider.

@Bestmompajoshre Thanks.  I have traveled a lot to many countries......including MX.  It is only now that I want to relocate to a different country and read the post, I am now so afraid.

@SkyeMoody

Hi

I was reading your article and thought I would chime in.

Bugs that bite hate vicki's. Rub it all over you.

Also the better smelling option is

Avon skin so soft lotion. I don't know why but they hate it.

I will be coming from Mazatlán to visit either Morelia or Queretaro next month and I will have some stuff with me as Bugs love me.

@travellight

dont know about the blood type thing you mentioned.

I have blood type A, and am the only person in a group of 3-10 people getting mosquito bites always.

Suggestions from my past experiences include: do not sweat (if so shower immediately), wash feet well and arm puts 2 times per day.

Oh how our little enemies love the smell of feet.

Assuming all the ankle and feet bites are due to this.

Close your windows at home.

Sleep inside mosquito nets or have screens on all windows. Seal up all cracks to apartment or house with plastic or any material you find.

Finally, relocate to a town that does not have millions of mosquitoes.