Health officials: Fight mosquitoes
Concerns about West Nile and Zika focus on breeding areas.
The West Nile virus is here and the mosquitoborne Zika cases might be on their way. Public health officials in Northwest Georgia say a key in avoiding the viruses is to make the mosquitoes go away.
Public health officials are ramping up their prevention efforts and urging area residents to help control local mosquito populations by tipping or tossing away any containers in their yards that can hold water, thereby eliminating potential breeding areas.
Environmental health specialists from county health departments are trapping, collecting, and identifying local mosquitoes, hoping they don’t find the Aedes aegypti species, the so-called yellow fever mosquito that loves to feed on humans and is the most effective at transmitting Zika.
The yellow fever mosquito has previously been identified in Georgia only in a very limited area near Columbus, but could be elsewhere, hence the surveillance.
Bites from another type of mosquito commonly found in Northwest Georgia, Culex quinquefasciatus, the southern house mosquito, can transmit the deadly West Nile virus, which now regularly occurs throughout the country. Georgia confirmed seven West Nile cases in 2016, fortunately no deaths.
Since Zika virus first appeared in the U.S., in 2016, all 118 Georgia cases — just 4 so far this year — have been travel related, someone has become infected in an area where there is active Zika transmission. But local transmission has occurred in Florida and Texas, and public health officials are concerned that it could happen in Georgia, too.
“Local Zika transmission is something we hope will never happen,” says Tim Allee, environmental health director for the Georgia Department of Public Health Northwest Health District, “but conceivably could, so we’ve been preparing for that possibility.” How might that happen?
“If a mosquito bites an infected person while the virus is still in that person’s blood, it gets infected and can spread the virus when biting another person,” Allee explains. “So even if they don’t feel sick or have symptoms, travelers returning to the U.S., from an area with Zika should take steps to prevent mosquito bites for three weeks so that they don’t spread Zika to mosquitoes, who can then spread Zika to other people, which would be local transmission.”
Other travel-related Zika guidance urges pregnant women to avoid travel to affected countries and advises female travelers who are considering pregnancy to talk to their doctors before heading to those destinations. If a pregnant woman or her partner travel to an area with risk of Zika, the couple should use condoms from start to finish every time they have sex or not have sex for the entire pregnancy, even if the traveler does not have symptoms of Zika or feel sick.
Currently, no vaccine is available for Zika virus, so the best way to prevent becoming infected with Zika or another mosquito-borne disease, such as West Nile, is by avoiding
Examining one of their light traps before setting it up in the field, Shane Hendrix and Nicole Harben with the Floyd County Health Department are just two of the environmental health specialists currently conducting mosquito surveillance throughout Northwest Georgia.
Tim Allee environmental health director for the Georgia Department of Public Health
Northwest Health District mosquito bites. This can be done by reducing exposure through maximizing time indoors, wearing appropriate mosquito repellent products, such as DEET products, and wearing clothes that minimize skin exposure. Reducing local mosquito populations around your home is another key.
“We’re urging people to clean up around their homes and yards to eliminate potential mosquito breeding areas,” Allee Contributed photo
says, “then continue practicing Tip ‘n Toss, especially after every rainfall, through the summer months, into the fall and over the winter. If you have things in and around your home and yard that can hold water, even old bottle caps or upturned magnolia leaves, get rid of them. After every rainfall, and at least once a week, Tip ‘n Toss.
“Dump out standing water in flowerpots and planters, children’s toys, or trash containers. Don’t allow water to accumulate in old tires, rain gutters, piles of leaves, or natural holes in vegetation. Tightly cover water storage containers, such as buckets, cisterns, and rain barrels, so that mosquitoes cannot get inside to lay eggs. For containers without lids and too big to Tip ‘N Toss, such as bird baths and pools) use larvicides such as mosquito dunks or mosquito torpedoes — they will not hurt birds or animals.”
Using personal protection to avoid mosquito bites when engaging in outdoor activities is also important, says Allee. “Wear lightweight longsleeve shirts, long pants and socks. Using EPA-registered insect repellents containing 20 percent to 30 percent DEET or a product such as oil of lemon eucalyptus will reduce exposure to mosquitoes.”