‘Counting On’: Will Jessa Duggar Address Zika Concerns In New Season?
A new season of Jill and Jessa: Counting On premiered on TLC on Tuesday. The first episode of the new season of Counting On was titled “A Courtship Begins,” as Jinger Duggar officially starts courting her now fiance, Jeremy Vuolo. But the biggest news for Counting On fans came from Jessa Duggar and Ben Seewald, who announced on Tuesday that they are expecting a second child. The Hollywood Gossip recently pointed out that Jessa and her pregnancy could be at risk for the Zika virus since she became pregnant just a few months after visiting older sister Jill in El Salvador. Will the new season of Counting On address this concern?
Jill Duggar is definitely more at risk of contracting the Zika virus, since she spent nearly a year in El Salvador with husband, Derick Dillard, on a mission trip. Jill and Derick finally made it back home to Arkansas just recently, as reported by People Magazine on August 10, but Jessa made one trip to Central America to visit Jill and Derick just a few months before she conceived. While Jessa said she was scared of drinking the water and running into wild animals while in El Salvador, some Counting On fans wonder if she should have been more worried about contracting the Zika virus, especially now that she’s pregnant.
“You have to be careful about the water that you drink. There are all kinds of snakes and scorpions and tarantulas and cougars!”
The Zika virus is spread to humans by day-time active mosquito bites and can be transmitted to an infected pregnant woman’s unborn child, possibly causing birth defects, such as an underdeveloped brain and other severe brain malformations. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), El Salvador is currently a hot spot for the mosquito-borne Zika virus. Mosquito control experts are actually calling the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the mosquito responsible for spreading the Zika virus, a “little ninja,” saying that it’s almost impossible to prevent a mosquito bite.
The Boston Globe published a report recently that quotes the director of the CDC as saying that mosquitos are also becoming harder to eradicate.
“The pests are resistant to the insecticides being used or are still finding standing water in which to breed in.”
The “little ninjas” reportedly hide in tiny crevices, sneak up on people’s ankles, and breed in just a bottle cap of standing water. The CDC is instructing pregnant women to completely avoid areas where the Zika virus is being transmitted, both in the U.S. and abroad. But Jessa Duggar wasn’t exactly pregnant when she visited Jill in El Salvador. According to the Hollywood Gossip report, Jessa is due in February, which means she conceived in May. Us Magazine shared that Jessa Duggar actually talked about her stay in El Salvador on the Season 1 finale episode of Counting On that aired on TLC on May 3.
The Seewalds have exciting news to share! Congrats to Jessa & Ben! #CountingOn https://t.co/cvvf5t7O6L pic.twitter.com/iQZ8gfxsN0
— TLC Network (@TLC) August 23, 2016
More than likely, Jessa did get at least one mosquito bite while visiting the tiny, tropical Central American country. In fact, scientists say it’s almost impossible to avoid mosquito bites. The Daily Mail reports that scientists learned the hard way that mosquitoes are “skilled hunters that use a trio of senses to hone in on prey,” even when mosquito repellant is used and the skin is covered. Scientists discovered that mosquitoes “hone in on their prey” by picking up the scent of human breath and by sensing body temperature. According to scientists, even if humans were invisible, mosquitoes would still be able to track body heat.
Why Aedes aegypti are so good at transmitting Zika, and other FAQs:
There are nearly 200 types of mosquitoes… https://t.co/6kRt04Earw— Jerome Adams (@jamesnews242) August 14, 2016
But not all mosquitoes carry the Zika virus, and the odds of a tourist getting Zika are slim, even in a hot-spot Zika area like Central America, according to a Quartz report. And even if Jessa Duggar did somehow contract Zika during her short stay in El Salvador, a Revelist article says that the virus clears the blood stream in a week’s time.
“There is no evidence to support future pregnancies would be affected.”
More worrisome is that the Zika virus is also sexually transmitted and can stay in semen much longer than blood, possibly even as long as six months after being infected. Jessa’s husband, Ben, may have contracted the Zika virus in El Salvador and not even know it since the virus often causes no symptoms at all. The CDC advises couples who may have been exposed to the Zika virus and want to become pregnant to first consult with their healthcare provider before having unprotected sex.
“Couples who are considering pregnancy should talk to their healthcare provider if one or both partners live in or traveled to an area with Zika.”
So, there is still a chance that Jessa Duggar could be at risk for the Zika virus, which would also put her unborn child at risk. Since Jessa didn’t exactly address the Zika concern in her pregnancy announcement to People Magazine on Tuesday, the Hollywood Gossip is telling fans to watch the new season of Jill and Jessa: Counting On either online or on TLC to find out if the Duggar-Seewald family addresses this concern, adding that for “safety’s sake the smart thing would’ve been to wait a little longer for baby number two.”
[Image via Jessa Sewald/Instagram]
