Warm Weather Brings Mosquitoes And Zika Threat

The United States had it’s first locally transmitted case of the zika virus last summer in Florida.

Health officials in that state reported a new case this week, bringing the total for 2017 up to 29, including 13 pregnant women.

The disease isn’t serious for most people, but can cause devastating birth defects.

Dr. Tom Geary at the Alabama Department of Public Health says our state is doing ok so far, unlike Florida.

“There’s not locally transmitted zika in Alabama so far. We’re thankful for that. We were watching very carefully for any cases last year so far we haven’t had any local transmission,” said Dr. Geary.

But that doesn’t mean it can’t happen here. Alabama had a pretty mild winter, but Dr. Geary doesn’t think that will have much of an impact on the mosquito population.

“Mosquitos are very resistant. If the temperature is above 55 they can lay eggs and the eggs can mature and continue the cycle, even if there’s a brief break in the temperature in the winter. We normally have breaks like that. There’s no way to eliminate them through that kind of thing.”

The best methods are still to remove any standing water and make sure to wear repellant and protective clothing, especially if you’re pregnant or may become pregnant.

But there is good news.

“The CDC is working on an immunization for zika and hopefully that will be turned out in the next year or so but it’s hard to know exactly when it will be approved by the FDA,” said Geary.