What You Need To Know About Mosquitoes And Your Health This Summer

Avoiding mosquitos this summer is about more than preventing itchy bumps. It’s about preventing serious disease. Americans in certain parts of the U.S. should be on higher alert than usual about mosquitos because of the ongoing Zika virus epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean, experts say. And while the highest risk zones are in Florida and Texas, more of the U.S. may be at risk.  The world’s scientists generally agree that the mosquito-borne virus can cause severe birth defects like microcephaly. And scientists such as Anthony Cornel, a medical entomologist at the University of California, Davis, say that the Zika virus outbreaks in nearby parts of the world should make people in high-risk mosquito zones in the U.S. more vigilant about repelling bites. Zika is primarily transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which has been spotted as far north as New York.  "With the impending threat of Zika and possibly chikungunya [a similar virus carried by the same mosquito], people need to be more aware of the presence of Aedes Aegypti, because that’s the major vector,” Cornel said. "We don't know, of course, if we’re going to get local transmission of these viruses, but the threat is there, and the threat is now increasing because of the spread of the mosquito." Researchers from the University of Arizona, the National Center for Atmospheric Research and other institutions put together a map of where the Aedes Aegypti mosq...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news