Texas border towns brace for Zika outbreak

Zika is already spreading through Mexico, but Texas may have two big advantages over its southern neighbor: the simple window screen and an abundance of air conditioning.

As of Friday, Mexico had tallied 272 cases of Zika, with most of them occurring in the southern states of Chiapas and Oaxaca, according to the office of Mexico’s Health Secretary. Health officials have recorded 31 people in Texas infected with the Zika virus — all contracted outside the USA.

State and local health officials here expect a homegrown outbreak eventually, especially in border cities like Brownsville and the surrounding area of Cameron County. How widespread it will be depends on whether residents heed the advice of the expects and take preventive measures, officials said.

“It’s not a matter of if it’s going to happen,” said Esmeralda Guajardo, Cameron County’s health administrator. “It’s a matter of when.”

The Zika virus, transmitted largely by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, has spread through 44 countries since first surfacing last year.  In the USA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 472 travel-associated cases of Zika as of May 4. None were acquired locally through mosquito bites. Zika causes symptoms such as fever, rashes and joint pain and in pregnant women can result in babies born with a serious birth defect, microcephaly, where babies’ heads are much smaller than normal. 

The Aedes aegypti mosquito is common along the Gulf Coast, especially in South Texas and along the border, said Sonja Swiger, an entomologist with the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Stephenville. Unlike other breeds of mosquitoes that feed on one human until they’re gorged with blood, the female Aedes will extract smaller portions from several humans, raising the risk of infection and outbreak, she said.

They’re the same mosquitoes that transmit dengue fever and chikungunya, and, more than 150 years ago, were the main culprits in the 1853 yellow fever outbreak in New Orleans that killed nearly 8,000 people.

“She’s a sneaky little bugger,” said Swiger. “They’re excellent carriers and transmitters … Not all insects are good at that. This one is very well established.”

Dr. John Hellerstedt, the state health commissioner, said he is preparing for outbreaks throughout in Texas, but the 1,254-mile border with Mexico is of particular concern. Last month, he travelled to Laredo to meet with health officials from both sides of the border to review response plans. 

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