4 Things To Know About Zika’s Potential Spread To The U.S.

There is no vaccine for Zika virus, and no cure other than rest, plenty of fluids and perhaps over-the-counter medication to reduce fevers, aches and pains. Because of this, prevention is paramount.

If you’re flying to a country where Zika virus is endemic, take anti-mosquito measures seriously. Put mosquito repellant on your clothes and skin, wear long sleeves and pants, and sleep underneath mosquito nets at night — even though the mosquitos that transmit Zika are mostly daytime biters, you’ll rest easier. In December, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel warning with all of this advice to Americans going to Mexico, the Caribbean and other parts of Central and South America. 

If after your return you start to feel any sickness that requires care, be sure to tell doctors and nurses immediately about your most recent trip. Zika’s symptoms are similar to many other diseases and can be easily confused with the common cold or another mosquito-borne disease.

Avoiding mosquitos

The CDC warns that if you actually do come down with Zika virus, it becomes even more important for you to avoid mosquitoes — you don’t want to be able to give the insects something they can spread to other people. 

More broadly, the most effective way to guard against zika virus is to guard against mosquitos in general. That means ferreting out puddles of standing water on your property, setting traps for mosquitoes and perhaps calling your city or county’s vector control services to fog areas with chemicals that can kill the insects or their eggs. 

“The concern really should be about mosquito control and prevention of mosquito bites, rather than concern or fear about a specific disease,” said Dr. Andi Shane, a pediatric infectious diseases expert at Emory University. “If we can control the vector, it’s less likely that we’ll have the infection.”

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