As mosquito season in warmer states peaked, several cautionary actions were done by authorities to stop the spread of the mosquito-borne Zika. But what can you use to avoid getting the disease?
Like dengue and chikungunya, Zika is carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. And there is no better way to prevent the disease than preventing the breeding mosquitoes by keeping your houses clean. Mosquitoes live and breed in damp and wet places. So make sure to clean the house.
You can use repellents, as the NBC News suggested. This is probably one of the most practical things you could ever buy, as it would come useful when you are just in the house or when travelling or camping in the woods.
EPA said that larvicides also help by controlling the mosquitoes at the larval stage. Spraying of larvicide targets the habitat of the mosquitoes, therefore prohibiting the maturing of the larva.
Aside from these, pesticides are an effective way to kill these insects. Zika-carrying mosquitoes together with other unwanted insects lurking your house will be killed. But be careful as to where you spray chemicals as it could be inhaled by a person which is bad for the health, the NBCNews report said.
In Miami Beach Florida, the spraying of insecticides was pushed through Friday morning. This after a protest by residents expressing health concerns caused the delay. NBCNews.com reported that 84 pregnant women were diagnosed with Zika,causing what they call "minor outbreak."
The World Health Organization describes Zika as "mosquito-borne flavivirus that was first identified in Uganda in 1947." But the more recent buzz created by the disease was the cases in Brazil where babies whose mothers have the disease are born with microcephaly.
Signs and symptoms of Zika include "fever, skin rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise, and headache," according to WHO.
