Counties educate public in Zika fight
Goal: Raise awareness without hysteria
As the threat of Zika flutters over tourism-dependent Central Florida, Orange County is fighting mosquitoes with sprays, science and now a campaign aimed at enlisting help and teaching residents how to protect themselves.
Mayor Teresa Jacobs will soon provide Zika-prevention advice in radio spots designed to blunt the spread of the virus, usually transmitted by the bite of two species of mosquitoes common to the region, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus.
She will ask listeners to “tip, toss and cover up,” a catch phrase for dumping standing water outside homes, discarding small containers that could pool water and help the bugs breed and wearing protective clothing and repellent.
“We don’t want to create a sense of hysteria that’s counterproductive, but complacency is equally as dangerous,” the mayor said Friday addressing suburban mayors and school officials. “I
hear a lot of people saying, ‘It’s not that big of a deal.’ That attitude is what will result in a serious problem here ... as soon as people think it’s no big deal.”
Orange has looped in neighboring counties because a Zika case in Lake, Osceola or Seminole would cause ripples here.
Osceola County Manager Don Fisher and Terry Torrens, the county’s mosquito-control director, attended a Zika information session in Orlando earlier this month, where they shared their concerns and efforts with regional partners.
“Our hope is our outreach and preventative measures now will prevent an outbreak from happening,” Osceola County spokesman Mark Pino said.
Florida has reported 500 laboratory-confirmed cases of Zika, most described as “travel associated,” meaning the infected person was diagnosed here but bitten by a mosquito while traveling to Puerto Rico or another place where the virus is more widespread, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But the state figures also include 43 cases blamed on local mosquitoes in MiamiDade, Palm Beach and Pinellas counties.
Orange County health officials have investigated 448 suspected cases of Zika and confirmed 61, all “travel associated,” said Dr. Christopher Hunter, county director of Health Services. None was traced to mosquitoes here.
While no more serious than the flu to most people, Zika poses a special risk for pregnant women. The virus can affect a fetus’ brain and lead to the birth of a baby with a dangerously small head.
Orange County’s Division of Mosquito Control, which has been fighting mosquitoes for years because the pesky insects can carry other diseases, added 10 employees to its staff of 30 to bolster its battle against Zika.
Mosquito-control teams have visited 11,810 county properties while investigating possible Zika cases. Hunter said those teams have trapped and tested nearly 2,000 bugs and not one has proved positive for the virus.
“We feel very confident that we’re on top of this locally,” he said.
But county leaders remain concerned.
The county’s media team recently drafted a list of Zika myths, which point out that the mosquito carrying the virus is a daytime biter and is more likely to be found near your house than in a lake, a marsh, or a swamp.
They’ve spent $60,000 to get the word out in English, Spanish and Creole. They created a special Zika page on their website and produced a video with Hunter at his home in College Park, showing places the mosquitoes could thrive.
“We are pulling out all the stops to reach as many residents as we can,” Orange communications manager Ann Marie Varga said in an email to Orange County Public Schools, hoping to persuade the district to send information home with kids.
County staff is using YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, as well as distributing Internet links and putting up posters urging residents to drain water from pool covers, flower pots, backyard birdbaths and anything else that holds water.
“We’re really trying to reach people who aren’t reading the news,” county spokeswoman Doreen Overstreet said. “If you’re plugged into the news, you probably know about Zika.”
Earlier this month, Gov. Rick Scott directed the state’s colleges and local school districts to provide Zika information to students and parents.
Most districts, including those serving Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties, have posted links on their websites to a “mosquito control” page created by the CDC.
Seminole Superintendent Walt Griffin discussed Zika in a letter the district distributed Thursday via an email blast to parents of its 67,000 students.
He outlined steps the district had taken to minimize risks around its campuses.
The district encouraged parents who want to protect their child with mosquito repellent to apply it before the student leaves for school, Seminole spokesman Michael Lawrence said.
At school, kids aren’t allowed to spray it themselves, as only the school nurse may do so.
“It kind of makes it an inconvenient step,” Lawrence said.
The county has reached out to big employers, urging them to remind their workers to help fight mosquitoes.
Road crews received an alert from Julie Naditz, county manager of highway construction, who asked them to eliminate standing water in buckets, tarps, tin cans and idle equipment.
“We need to do what we can on job sites...” she said in her correspondence.
To read the county’s Zika page, go to www.ocfl.net/ zika.