SNOW HILL – Health department officials stressed the importance of mosquito control during a briefing on the Zika virus this week.
Worcester County Health Officer Debbie Goeller met with the Worcester County Commissioners Tuesday to provide an update on the Zika virus and local preparedness efforts. The virus, transmitted by mosquitoes, can cause serious birth defects.
“We are taking this seriously,” Goeller said. “We are making every effort to be prepared.”
The Zika virus, Goeller explained, is caused by the Aedes species of mosquitoes, which are found in much of the United States and prefer to live near human habitation.
“They’re called urban mosquitoes,” she said.
Though active transmission of the disease has yet to occur in the United States, numerous travel-associated cases have been reported. Goeller says individuals who have traveled to an area where Zika is prevalent have returned to the United States with the disease. There have been 17 travel acquired cases in Maryland so far, though none of those have been in Worcester County.
“This situation is evolving and evolving rapidly,” Goeller said.
She said eight people had been tested for Zika in Worcester County but all of the results had come back negative. She added, however, that the health department would not be reporting positive cases.
“These women will have difficult decisions to make,” she said.
Zika, she explained, causes mild illness in most people and many never realize they were infected. Just 20 percent of infected people even have symptoms.
“Typically you’re not very sick and it’s a brief illness,” Goeller said.
Zika during pregnancy, however, can result in microcephaly, a condition in which the baby’s head is smaller than it should be.
Because of the spread of the Zika virus, Goeller said mosquito control was now particularly important. The health department has been encouraging people to eliminate any potential mosquito breeding sites — things like standing water in flower pots — and to participate in the mosquito spraying programs. Goeller said few people realized the importance of eliminating mosquito breeding sites in their own yards.
“This is not the time to have a lot of flower pots out,” Goeller said. “These mosquitoes can breed in very small containers.”
She says residents should check their yards weekly and talk to their neighbors about eliminating breeding areas throughout their neighborhoods. For more information on Zika visit www.worcesterhealth.org.
