Miami-Dade Mosquito Control Aggressively Hunting Potential Zika Carriers
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – In Miami-Dade, Mosquito Control inspectors are on the hunt for the blood-sucking pests that could potentially carry the Zika virus.
They're going door to door in some neighborhoods when people call with complaints about mosquitoes.
When they find evidence of breeding, they bag up samples and take it back to biologists who will analyze it. Then they treat the area.
South Florida does have the kind of mosquito that can carry the Zika virus, but so far there is no sign that any carry it. However, that could change if they're not controlled.
"It would take a little bite, it only take as few mosquitoes to bite somebody carrying the virus and then we may have an outbreak of disease," said Chalmers Vasquez from Miami-Dade Mosquito Control. "That's what we're trying to avoid ate this point."
The mosquitoes that can potentially carry the Zika virus are not the ones that come from flood water or the Everglades. They're the ones you find in your own backyard – in stagnant water.
"She is very closely associated with human habitation," explained Dr. Whitney Qualls from the University of Miami. "And she can be a pretty aggressive biter and they're active during the day time."
Dr. Qualls, along with Mosquito Control, stresses the importance of preventing these neighborhood mosquitoes from breeding in mass. It requires inspecting our own yards for standing water, checking plants that retain water and draining it all.
"If we do that, if you do that, I do that, my neighbors do that and everybody does that, that would minimize the Zika problem completely," Vasquez said.
The virus can affect pregnant women and their newborns – causing a rare neurological disorder.
"Everything we look at with this virus seems to be a bit scarier than we initially thought," said Dr. Anne Schuchat with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On Tuesday afternoon, a day after Schuchat expressed her growing concerns, Congress approved legislation to speed up the development of vaccines and treatments to help curb the spread of the virus.
The legislation, introduced by Florida Sen. Bill Nelson and others, creates an incentive for drug makers to accelerate their search for a cure.
The White House is also urging Congress to allocate nearly $2 billion to fight the spread or pay the consequences.
Click here to learn more about Zika and prevention.