Hurricane Hermine ripped up trees and power poles, and caused flash flooding along Florida’s Gulf Coast as the Category 1 storm came ashore early Friday morning. But the storm could pose a threat in the days that follow, even after it moves up the U.S. Atlantic Coast.
Officials are warning Floridians to stay away from or quickly get rid of any standing water in order to limit the risk of exposure to Zika-infected mosquitoes.
READ MORE: Hurricane Hermine makes landfall in Florida as flooding fears mount
“It is incredibly important that everyone do their part to combat the Zika virus by dumping standing water,” ABC News reported Florida Gov. Rick Scott as saying at a news conference Friday morning.
“Remember to wear long sleeves and bug repellent when outdoors,” he added.
Florida is the first state to record mosquito-to-human transmission of the virus which is known to cause a condition called microcephaly and other birth defects.
READ MORE: Why this Canadian-made device could be a game-changer in the fight against Zika virus
At least 47 people have been infected with the virus through mosquito bites in an outbreak in parts of Miami.
While health officials in Florida and other southern states are taking steps to limit the further spread of the virus in mosquito populations, the havoc caused by Hermine could set things back.
“The good news about hurricanes is they can wash away mosquito populations,” Dr. Peter Hotez, dean at the Baylor College National School of Tropical Medicine, told CBS News. “The downside is that the hurricane will interrupt any ongoing efforts of mosquito control. And then as the floodwaters recede, we could see the reappearance of mosquitoes.”
University of Florida research describes the aftermath of a hurricane as a “double whammy” for mosquitoes.
“When dry areas flood, the floodwater mosquito eggs hatch. When the floodwater has nowhere to go, the standing-water mosquitoes have more places to lay their eggs.”
The two types of mosquitoes that are capable of carrying the Zika virus are the Aedes aegypti and the Aedes albopictus — the same types that can also carry diseases like Dengue and Chikungunya viruses.
Both of those species are standing water mosquitoes and they tend to breed in containers of water.
These can include artificial containers like buckets, trash cans, tires, planters and other water-logged pieces of debris, but also in natural containers like certain types of flowers and plant leaves — as was discovered in Miami this week.
READ MORE: Pregnant or planning to have a baby? Don’t go to South Florida, Canadian officials say
Officials working in the Miami Beach Zika zone were able to catch Zika-infected mosquitoes for the first time using mosquito traps, CBS News reported.
In one of those instances, the mosquitoes were breeding in water collected in the bloom bromeliad plant in the Miami Botanical Gardens.
“Everyone should know by now that bromeliads are really problematic for us. These are probably the number one breeding area for mosquitoes,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said Thursday.
Not all standing water can be easily dumped or drained. For that, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urges people to use a larvicide to eliminate young mosquitoes before they grow large enough to bite and transmit the virus.
The CDC also suggests ensuring cracks in tanks are sufficiently sealed and to cover containers that can’t be sealed with a fine mesh that has perforations smaller than an adult mosquito.
Comments