Medicinestores and local agencies are doing their part in the marketing push by issuing warnings about Zika, a virus that causes destructive birth defects in infants infected in the womb. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the mosquito species that carries Zika has been found across most of the nation, sparing only some western parts and the northernmost states.
Michael Beach, assistant incident manager for the CDC's Zika response team said that if you are going outside, wear mosquito repellent; and that it requires to be the same as brushing your teeth or putting on sunscreen.
As interests mount over the dissemination of Zika from Latin America, bug-spray producers are increasing production and branding products as effective for fighting it, while pharmacies are increasing orders and setting-up in-store displays. In New York which is the most-populated U.S. city, officials are gearing up with a comprehensive public-health scheme based on lessons learned from fighting the West Nile virus more than ten years ago.
The goal of health experts isn't to inundate or scare people but to prepare the public for the risk that Zika infections may start to spread locally, Beach said. Presently, there are 600 pregnant women in the United States with Zika infections contracted abroad who are being closely observed.
Beach said that this virus is a game changer from a reproductive-health standpoint since the birth defects are terrible in nature.
New York launched a three-year Zika-control program in April that expands screening, close observation and eradication. The city of 8.4 million people is tapping its experience from past bouts with West Nile, a virus spread by a different mosquito species than the one that carries Zika.
For now, West Nile doesn't produce symptoms in most people, although it can cause severe symptoms like ataxia, paralysis and vision loss in approximately 1 in 150 infected people. The virus appeared in the Western Hemisphere in and around New York in 1999, causing severe illness in dozens and seven mortalities that year. The city utilized large-scale pesticide spraying, including by air.
Nowadays in New York, it's Zika that's getting the attention. A sign going with a bug-spray display close to the checkout of a midtown Manhattan Duane Reade drugstore says reduce your risk of Zika virus. Signs in the city's subway structure and in another place implore New Yorkers to Fight Back against Zika by utilizing repellent and disposal standing water.
It's not enough for humans to be watchful from dusk to dawn, when most mosquitoes sting, the CDC says. The species that spreads Zika known as Aedes mosquitoes are active in the daytime. They live inside people's homes and frequently bite each family member, taking blood sips from each.
Retailers and producers are scrambling to make sure they're ready as the summer mosquito season draws nearer in the Northern Hemisphere. Duane parent Walgreens is working with bug-spray producers to increase supplies, said Phil Caruso, a spokesman. It added booklets about the virus to its 120 Rico Puerto stores earlier this year.
Producers have increased production to make sure they have enough supply of insect revolting to meet a prospective spike in high demand. Spectrum Brands Holdings Inc., producer of Cutter, has already seen a 19 percent increase in sales of personal bug sprays over the past six months in comparison with the same time last year, said Pailthorp John, a spokesman for the Middleton company based in Wisconsin.
Spectrum specialists to increase capacity of its spray repellents by nearly 60 percent when a new production line begins later this year. Meanwhile, it's added temporary lines and offsite producing to meet demand, Pailthorp said. The company, which is improving its packaging, branding, displays and websites to include Zika information, is working with federal officials to get language endorsed in record time, Pailthorp said.
SC Johnson & Son Inc., producer of Off sprays, increased production in Latin America beginning in November as reports of local cases commenced to drip, said spokesman Jeff McCollum. It began ramping up U.S. production early this year, running its largest facility, close to the company's Racine, Wisconsin, headquarters, around the clock. Top demand in the U.S. has been about 50 percent higher than last year, he said.
McCollum said that they've got a lot of capacity to even make more as they require it; and that they're working with a real sense of seriousness.
There are some other infections carried by mosquitoes that strike thousands of Americans annually. While they don't cause the same panic as Zika, which is still poorly understood and unimaginable to treat, they produce their own set of destructive symptoms such as neurological injury and death.
Two serious diseases know as Chikungunya and Dengue also carried by Aedes mosquitos, now appear across the continental U.S. There's West Nile that is still present in 48 states.
Dengue, which can cause a rash, mild bleeding, high fever and severe pain has already been reported this year in the Florida Keys, an untypically early start. The virus can cause dengue fever which is hemorrhagic in nature, a severe form that can kill if not identified early. Chikungunya, diagnosed in a non-traveling American just for the first time in the year 2014, can cause muscle aches, fever and joint pain. There's no prevention or cure for either, with patients receiving supportive care to assist their bodies fight the infection.
Beach said that they have multiple viruses that are spread by mosquitoes; and that it's not just about trying to avoid irritating mosquitoes any more, it's about disease caused.