Stinging reality
Control of the Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries the Zika virus will be labor-intensive.
Mosquito season is just around the corner. While Houstonians are used to being eaten alive during their outdoor barbecues and to being dive-bombed by the pesky insects while they try, often unsuccessfully to sleep, this summer could be much worse for women — particularly for poor women who are with child.
The Zika virus has been confirmed to cause birth defects in children, including microcephaly, a condition in which a baby’s head fails to grow to the normal, expected size before birth. In addition, the virus has been shown to block the development of the fetal brain so that these babies, if they survive, may suffer severe effects such as profound developmental delays and long-term mental handicaps.
Scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research studied weather conditions, rates of travel and socioeconomic conditions that were conducive to large populations of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes capable of carrying the Zika virus and pinpointed Houston as among the areas at greatest risk (“Report says Houston among areas at highest Zika transmission risk,” HoustonChronicle.com, March 16).
Dr. Peter Hotez, a tropical disease expert with Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, warns that Houston and other Gulf Coast urban areas likely would be ground zero for a Zika outbreak in the U.S. because they share the three factors driving the rapid spread of the virus in other countries: poverty, crowding and mosquitoes. Our city’s poor neighborhoods may be at greatest risk.
There’s so much we don’t know about the virus. While we can reliably expect to see a rise in Aedes aegypti mosquito populations as we head toward the summer, we don’t know for sure that these mosquitoes will be carrying the Zika virus. We don’t know how many pregnant women who are infected will actually give birth to babies born with microcephaly. And we don’t know how long any outbreak would last. But better be safe than sorry.
Our city has a well-deserved reputation for acting to help others in crisis. Witness our reaction to the citizens of New Orleans fleeing the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the many brave rescues of neighbors by neighbors during the Tax Day flooding. But we are not known for preventing a crisis. Now’s our time.
Additional funding for mosquito control is stalled in Washington. On these pages, we’ve called on city officials to appoint a tropical disease czar to coordinate efforts and communications regarding prevention methods. (“Zika’s landing” Page B8, Feb. 4). Harris County Mosquito Control is doing what it can, but experts say that its outdoor pesticide fog used now to control the Culex mosquito — which carries the West Nile virus — is not likely to be effective. We spray for Culex mosquitoes during the night, because that’s when they’re out flying. The Aedes aegypti are daytime fliers, so night spraying won’t affect them.
Because the Aedes aegypti mosquito is adapted to live in close association with humans, spraying would need to be house-to-house and in some cases take place indoors, an approach rarely practiced by mosquito control authorities on the Gulf Coast.
Destroying the mosquitoes’ breeding grounds is also a necessary component. But this would require sending workers door-to-door after each rainfall to dump water out of old tires, gardening pots and other items that collect water.
The bottom line is that Aedes aegypti control requires labor-intensive work. For that we’ll need not only an infusion of new funds but active participation from homeowners and the community.
Our city has many wealthy ZIP codes where average household income exceeds $200,000 per year. But almost one-fourth of the city’s population subsists below the poverty line. Lack of resources means tough choices between rent and food, electricity and car payments and little discretionary funds for home repair.
The cost to install window screens depends upon the size and type of screens. But a quick Internet search yielded a basic cost of about $10 a screen.
The faith-based community, which has done so much for so many in our town, should consider mobilizing and sending volunteers door to door to alert residents to the danger and to repair torn and replace nonfunctional screens.
The threat of Zika may yet turn out to be overrated. That would be the best-case scenario, as preventive mosquito control also would reduce the risks of other tropical diseases such as dengue and chikungunya. Any concerted action to ward off a Zika outbreak would pay off, and that should be officials’ focus.