Joint base raises awareness of Zika virus

By Guv Callahan, Pentagram Staff WriterFebruary 11, 2016

Joint base raises awareness of Zika virus
The Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Directorate of Public Works is asking that the joint base community be cognizant of the Zika virus, a mosquito-borne disease that has been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization. There are no v... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

The Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Directorate of Public Works is asking that the joint base community be cognizant of the Zika virus, a mosquito-borne disease that has been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization.

The virus, which is primarily spread through the same mosquitos that spread yellow and dengue fever, affected more than a million people in South and Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean in 2015, according to the Army Public Health Center. And with these recent outbreaks, the number of cases among people visiting or returning to the United States is likely to increase.

The Centers for Disease Control report that 35 travel-related cases of the Zika virus disease have been confirmed in the United States, including three people in Washington and one in Virginia.

Common symptoms of the virus are fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes, according to the CDC, but increased reports from Brazil of poor pregnancy outcomes in women who were infected with the virus while pregnant have prompted the agency to investigate a link between the virus and significant birth defects.

After cases of Guillain-Barr Syndrome, a neurological disorder, and microcephaly, a birth defect characterized by smaller than normal head size, were reported in children in areas of Brazil affected by the virus, the CDC is recommending that pregnant women in any trimester postpone any travel plans to areas where the virus is ongoing.

Although all of the cases in the continental U.S. have been contracted from traveling, JBM-HH DPW will be taking the necessary action to prevent the virus on the base.

Ronald Quarles, pest controller with DPW's Environmental Management Division, said mosquito season on the joint base runs from March to the first frost, which typically occurs around November.

The base's mosquito management program begins in mid-March, with DPW employees inspecting the base for potential mosquito breeding grounds, including gutters, tree cavities, manhole covers, sewer lines or anywhere else that standing water could gather.

"We inspect any receptacle or container that could be a potential breeding site," Quarles said in an interview with the Pentagram. "Mosquitoes can breed in a container of water as small as a soda cap."

Any standing water found on the base will be treated with larvicide, chemicals designed to eliminate mosquito nests while the insects are at their larval stage, Quarles said. He added that larviciding is an ongoing process, and that the DPW Entomology Shop performs this task multiple times.

DPW also performs surveillance, catching and testing mosquitoes on the joint base from mid-June through the first frost. Once female mosquitoes, the only ones that bite, are captured, they're sent to Fort Meade, Md., where they're tested to determine if they carry disease.

Additionally, DPW employees spray pesticides to control the population of adult mosquitoes, Quarles said.

There are no vaccines to treat or current medicines to prevent Zika virus infections, according to the CDC. People infected with the disease should get plenty of rest and drink lots of fluids to prevent dehydration.

They should also prevent being bitten by mosquitoes during the first week they are infected, as the mosquito could then pass the virus on to somebody else.

"During the first week of infection, Zika virus can be found in the blood and passed from an infected person to a mosquito through mosquito bites," reads the CDC website.

For more information on the Zika virus, visit www.cdc.gov/zika.

For Army Public Health Center information on the virus, visit phc.amedd.army.mil.