We should prepare for Zika outbreaks

The Zika virus might not carry the same nightmarish threat as the Ebola or SARS viruses, but it is both more easily spread and justifiably frightening in its own right. With that in mind, we hope national, state and local governments can coordinate on a plan to contain the Zika virus as it makes inroads in the United States.

No cases so far have been reported of people contracting the Zika virus from a mosquito in North Carolina or South Carolina. But last week a York County resident who had been in a country where the virus is active became the 18th victim of the disease to be reported in South Carolina.

Nineteen cases also have been reported in North Carolina. And more than 200 people have been infected in Florida, the most vulnerable entry point so far for the virus.

In another development last week, the national Centers for Disease Control reported that a health care worker had been infected by a patient carrying the virus even though they had not engaged in sex. Until this case, experts had assumed that the only way the disease could be transmitted from one person to another was through sexual contact.

Of course the most common way the virus is spread is through mosquitoes who bite infected people and transmit the disease to others. Therefore, one of the most effective methods of controlling the virus is to eradicate mosquitoes.

Unfortunately, Congress went on recess this month without reconciling differences over funding for efforts to prevent a mass outbreak.

That leaves the state’s counties and municipalities with the financial burden of spraying and other eradication measures. But most counties have not begun fighting mosquitoes in earnest, and many can’t afford to.

DHEC has applied for more than $650,000 in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grants for equipment and insecticides, but officials say that won’t come close to covering the expese of countywide aerial spraying, which could cost millions. Meanwhile, health officials are advising homeowners to fight Zika in their own backyards.

That includes emptying any standing water. Mosquito larvae can survive in the amount of water found in a bottle cap.

Experts also advise clearing brushy areas where mosquitoes can breed. These measures can’t ensure that the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which spreads Zika, won’t successfully invade the state, but they are a good first line of defense.

Concerns about the Zika virus shouldn’t cause panic. For most, the virus is not life threatening but rather the cause of a unpleasant bout of flu-like symptoms.

For pregnant women, however, the disease can result in frightening birth defects, notably microcephally, which causes children to be born with small heads or hardened spots on their brains.

Zika might not be the equivalent of Ebola or other more severe viruses, but it is scary nonetheless. And, if we can head off a major outbreak with some common-sense countermeasures, that would be a worthwhile investment.

It also is something that should be pursued now, not after the disease has infiltrated the country.

This story was originally published July 20, 2016 at 4:10 PM with the headline "We should prepare for Zika outbreaks."