DNREC discussing Zika virus contingency plans

In Delaware, health officials are getting ready for the swiftly approaching mosquito season by planning for contingencies if they start seeing Zika virus cases.

According to Bill Meredith, DNREC’s Environmental Program Administrator for the Mosquito Control Section, Delaware’s Asian tiger mosquitoes may be capable of transmitting Zika.

He says if the state finds that people who have traveled to infected areas of the world come back with the virus, it’s likely his department will conduct a surveillance around their homes and spot spray those areas. 

Those people will also be asked to do their best to avoid being bitten by Delaware mosquitoes.

Meredith says, “For the first three weeks they’re back in Delaware, they go to pretty great lengths to avoid being bitten by our local mosquitoes. We don’t want our local Asian tiger mosquitoes to pick up the Zika virus and start passing it on to people locally who have never been out of the country.”

Asian tiger mosquitoes tend to start appearing in Delaware from early to mid- May.