Sacramento Region Planning For Zika Virus By Studying Outbreaks
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Sacramento County is investigating a probable case of Zika - but county officials believe that person did not contract it here in California. Still, as the number of Zika cases grows in Florida, California vector controls feel a sense of urgency to get prepared for possible local outbreaks.
"We're very concerned about paying attention to what's going on there," said Joel Beuttner, General Manager of Placer Mosquito and Vector Control District. "What works, what doesn't. The great news for California is that Zika isn't here."
From his perspective, Zika's Florida arrival in 2016 looks a lot like the arrival of West Nile in New York back in 1999.
"By the time it came to California, we had the benefit of a couple of years' experience, vicariously through our colleagues on the East, to be ready," Beuttner said.
Preparation includes knowing how to look for the virus-spreading mosquitoes and how to control them. Additionally, officials have to know the differences between the type of mosquitoes that carry West Nile and those that carry Zika.
West Nile carrying mosquitoes are in the Culex genus and transmit the virus from birds to mosquitoes to humans. In contrast, Zika-carrying mosquitoes are in the Aedes genus and transmit from mosquitoes to humans. West Nile-carrying mosquitoes are mainly active during dawn and dusk, while Zika-carrying mosquitoes are very active throughout the day.
Placer Vector Control has a surveillance program dedicated to tracking the now infamous Zika-carrying species.
Unlike the mosquitoes carrying West Nile, the ones carrying Zika travel low to the ground and are known as ankle biters.
"We need to make sure we have our act together," Buettner said. "We're ready to address those mosquitoes when they come here and make sure that Californians stay safe."