COLTON San Bernardino County health officials have found a second mosquito here that could be capable of carrying the zika virus, as well as other tropical diseases.
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As the summer heat and humidity arrive in full force, and as more people carry the virus from recent travel or sex with an infected traveler, mosquitoes here may start picking up the virus.
Brian Hanft, Environmental Health Services Manger of the Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health says surveillance monitoring is critical. A travel-transmitted outbreak can become a localized outbreak if an Aedes aegypti mosquito bites an infected person during their first week of infection, multiplies and bites someone else. There have not been any locally-acquired cases, though the CDC warns imported cases could result in local spread.
“Mosquito bites are not just annoying – they are key for how these viruses spread around your body and cause disease”, said Clive McKimmie, an expert on viruses at the University of Leeds in Britain who led one of the studies.
The Aedes aegypti is a mosquito that can spread the Zika virus.
“We now want to look at whether medications such as anti-inflammatory creams can stop the virus establishing an infection if used quickly enough after the bite inflammation appears”, he said in a university news release.
After receiving confirmation from the CDC, the woman was advised by the county Health Department of protective measures to reduce the risk of further mosquito bites.
Counties are shaded yellow had a presence of the mosquito for one year within the specified time period.
The mosquitos, which spread the Zika virus by biting humans mostly during the daytime, can also spread dengue and chikungunya viruses.
Common symptoms of Zika virus include fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis (red eyes).
Other ways to fight against mosquitoes include wearing long sleeves, using bug repellent containing “DEET”, using bug lights in outdoor fixtures and making sure windows and doors have screens. The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting several days to a week.
There is no vaccine to prevent the virus.
State health officials said in March that an adult from southwest Kansas was the state’s first confirmed case of the Zika virus.
Before 2007, according to the CDC, 14 cases were documented, although other cases were likely not reported.
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Zika has been in existence for about 70 years in Africa and parts of Asia, but only recently spread to the Western Hemisphere.
