ansans warned to protect themselves from mosquitoes as they travel

Friday, February 12, 2016

A virus that has reached pandemic levels near the equator, the Zika virus disease, is causing a stir in the United States as cases of it start to pop up.

So far, Kansans are not affected by the disease.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Zika is a "disease caused by Zika virus that is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito."

"It's (usually) spread by mosquito bites," said Mary Wynn, infection control and occupational health specialist for Mercy Hospital Fort Scott. "There's been a case in Texas that's been identified as spread through sexual contact."

Most common symptoms include fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis, or red eyes. Symptoms usually last only a few days to a week and are mild, the website says. The virus is usually not severe enough to warrant a hospital visit and those infected "very rarely die of Zika," according to the CDC.

According to a Kansas Department of Health and Environment press release, the species of mosquito that spread the disease bite "mostly during the daytime." They are also the same mosquitoes that spread dengue and chikungunya viruses.

"We're used to morning and evening mosquitoes," Wynn said. "This one tends to be more active in the day hours."

As of Feb. 10, there are 52 reported travel-associated cases in the United States and no locally acquired vector-borne cases. In US territories, one travel-associated case has been reported, as well as nine locally acquired cases reported.

Kansas has no reported cases of the virus as of yet, while Nebraska has two reported cases.

"With so much travel in our world today, there's always a possibility that someone could get exposed in another region and come back to Kansas," Wynn said.

This particular mosquito species lives in the "equator belt," a geographic belt around the earth located on both sides of the equator.

With warmer weather, springtime, and summer quickly approaching, concerns have risen about the increase of travel-related cases.

"There's just concerns with travel to that area in general," Wynn said. "(With) the Olympics coming up, spring break coming up, and just people cruising in that area."

There is no vaccine to prevent the Zika virus disease, the release states. KDHE advises people avoid mosquito bites to prevent from transmitting the disease.

"Vaccine development is being aggressively pursued," Wynn said. "The best protection is to keep your skin covered if you're going to be in that area. Wear deep product mosquito repellent."

Other suggested steps include staying in places that use screens to keep mosquitoes outside or places with air conditioning, sleeping under a mosquito net when overseas or outside, applying sunscreen before insect repellent, use of insect repellents containing an EPA-registered active ingredient on skin and clothing, including DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, para-menthane-diol or IS 3535.

The virus can be spread from a pregnant woman to her unborn baby, which can cause birth defects, including microcephaly. Because of this, the CDC recommends pregnant women "in any trimester" postpone travel to any area where the virus is spreading. This includes women trying to get pregnant and their male partners.

If symptoms of the virus start to show, the CDC, KDHE, and Wynn advice talking with a healthcare provider.

"If (people) have traveled and they have flu-like symptoms, they need to be very upfront about that so that their provider knows," Wynn said. "And knows how to proceed with treatment and diagnosis."

For more information about Zika virus and the areas where the virus is active, go to www.cdc.gov/zika or call the KDHE at (785) 296-1400.