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Homestead in battle to combat Zika

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Frank Casciotta
  • 482nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. --  

Team Homestead is now among the entities combating the Zika Virus that is infecting areas in South Florida.

Savannah Hawes, the 482nd Fighter Wing installation public health administrator, is setting out traps to catch mosquitoes around Homestead Air Reserve Base (HARB) and is on the lookout for the infamous virus.

“The traps are used to catch and identify mosquitoes around the base to document what diseases they may be carrying,” said Hawes. “Once I catch them, they are frozen and sorted by gender and species.”

The species of mosquito carrying the Zika virus is called Aedes aegypti.

Hawes uses specialized traps that emit carbon monoxide, the gas people exhale, into the air to lure mosquitoes into the area. Once they are close enough, a fan blows them down into a bag and picked up later. Each trap can hold approximately 150 mosquitoes.

The traps will be out from now until October.

“If we find the Zika Virus here, we will partner with the [Miami-Dade] county to set out more traps and start spraying the area to hopefully eliminate the threat,” said Hawes.

Pregnant women are at the greatest risk as the virus is known to cause a severe birth defect named microcephaly. Babies suffering from this condition have smaller heads and as a result—smaller brains.

Symptoms like rashes, muscle aches, sweating and fever will surface in about one out of three people who get infected. Those who are infected can spread the virus through sexual activity.

There is no cure or vaccine to the virus. However, there are precautionary measures people can take to help mitigate exposure.

“You can use Environmental Protection Agency-approved repellents like DEET or Picaridin,” said Hawes. “You should also wear long-sleeve shirts and pants when outdoors. Mosquitoes don’t like cold weather so keeping the AC down in your house is a good deterrent for them. Removal of standing water is very important too, since that is where mosquitoes lay their eggs.”

Other ways to ward off mosquitoes include citronella candles and bracelets.

For more information visit http://health.mil/zika.