Could There Be A Zika Virus Outbreak In Montgomery County?

As summer arrives and public health officials warn about the spread of West Nile Virus, as they do every year, there's talk of another virus going around town: Zika.

The conditions exist in Montgomery County for there to be a Zika "outbreak," according to health officials.

Zika, classified by health experts as an emerging arbovirus, spreads much the same as West Nile Virus or any mosquito-borne illness: through the propagation and bites of infected mosquitoes.

Zika is a generally mild illness that includes common symptoms of fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes), lasting from several days to one week.

In that way, Zika is similar to a host of other diseases: malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, eastern equine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, lacrosse encephalitis, or chikungunya.

“The Zika virus is generally a mild virus that lasts less than a week,” said Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh, who is also a physician and is Interim Medical Director of the Montgomery County Health Department. “The CDC, the state health department, and our county health department are fully prepared for cases of Zika virus, which is important to note, cannot be transmitted through casual contact. We want to strongly encourage our residents to focus on mosquito bite prevention, if they travel to countries that are affected by the ongoing outbreak. It is also important to talk with your healthcare provider about travel if you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant.”

Zika needs a large population of mosquitoes to spread, just like these other diseases. Conditions that are friendly to mosquitoes: large piles of standing water, such as puddles, gathered rainwater in a wheelbarrow, swimming pool, bird bath, gutter, or window well., are the conditions that are friendly to Zika.

Southeastern Pennsylvania is also within the range for both types of mosquitoes that carry Zika, as shown in the map below:

But will an "outbreak," or any more infections, happen?

It is possible, health officials confirm, but the risks are remote.

There have been 312 cases of Zika in the United States thus far, and none of them were locally acquired cases. Twelve of those cases have been in Pennsylvania, and only two of those twelve were in Montgomery County.

That's out of a total of 66 individuals who have been tested for Zika in Montgomery County, the Department of Health confirmed.

To combat the possible spread of Zika, health officials are increasing their public outreach efforts and encouraging people to make their property and their community as unfriendly toward mosquitoes as possible. The county is also executing environmental surveillance and control programs to limit the spread of mosquito-borne illnesses.