La Crosse ready to stop Zika virus spread

Aedes mosquito being blamed for carrying the virus

More federal money could be spent on the fight against the mosquito that carries the Zika virus.

Indications are that the illness is riskier to pregnant women than previously thought, and health experts are becoming more worried about the spread of the virus.

The type of mosquito that is said to be spreading the virus is called Aedes. And, like most mosquitoes, it can be stopped simply by getting rid of containers where they breed.  

Residents in states like Georgia, are being urged to do this. 

In La Crosse County, it’s already been happening for quite some time, even though the Aedes mosquito isn’t native to these parts.

“We’ve been preparing for diseases and illnesses like Zika for upwards of 39 years,” health director Jen Rombalski said. “The type of vector control we do here at the health dept. really is about eliminating the habitat for this type of mosquito, Aedes, (a) container breeder species.”

The closest the Aedes mosquito has gotten to here is Illinois, according to Rombalski.  

Rombalski says the mosquito is still some distance from La Crosse, unless travelers bring them here from elsewhere:

“Those (Aedes) are really currently in the Central Americas and Mexico,” she said, “but many do travel and we need to make sure we’re protecting ourselves from mosquito bites in those areas, because we can become infected.”

Congress has been accused of doing nothing to keep the mosquito-borne virus from spreading, which could put much of the burden for prevention on state and local governments.

The county vector control efforts around Wisconsin are aimed at stopping the growth of mosquitoes which spread encephalitis and West Nile disease. But Rombalski says the current method of spraying mosquito larvae to kill them should work on Aedes, as well.