JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
With the mosquito season in its infancy, public health
flights at all Joint Base San Antonio locations have begun to monitor the
presence of the pesky creature.
Concern about the Zika virus, stemming from its outbreak in
Central and South America, Mexico and the Caribbean in 2015, is affecting the
way public health officials are approaching the monitoring process this year.
Senior Airman Timothy Legge, a 359th Aerospace Medicine
Squadron’s Public Health Flight technician at JBSA-Randolph, said public health
is always taking active measures to educate the public on mosquitoes and the
diseases they can carry.
And although they educate everyone, they especially focus on
those who are at higher risk for exposure such as deployers and members who
travel outside the U.S. to infected areas, Legge said.
Recent concerns with Zika in the U.S. have led to
collaborative efforts between public health at the 359th Medical Group, the
other JBSA locations and the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District.
Together, the organizations educate the general public and actively survey and
report the number and types of mosquitoes in the area.
“Because Zika is carried by the Aedes mosquito, which
primarily feeds in the day, we have changed our approach to trapping,” he said.
“We now trap both day and night.”
The 359th AMDS Public Health Flight is also awaiting the
arrival of traps that are better suited to the capture of the Aedes mosquito,
Legge said. The Aedes albopictus and the Aedes aegypti, which are both present
in the San Antonio area, are vectors of Zika, dengue and chikungunya viruses. A
large dengue outbreak occurred in South Texas 11 years ago.
Tech. Sgt. Carrie Fierro, 359th AMDS Public Health Flight
Community Health Element chief, explained the monitoring procedure.
“The Culex mosquito, a vector for West Nile virus, is active
at dusk and dawn, so we place traps out at about 4:30 p.m. and check them in
the morning,” she said. “The Aedes mosquitoes are more active during the day,
so those traps are placed in the morning and picked up late in the day.”
Although traps are placed at various locations throughout
JBSA-Randolph, “we also trap based on customer complaints due to increased
mosquito activity,” Fierro said.
When samples are collected, female mosquitoes are separated
from the males and sent to the U.S. Army Public Health Command Central at
JBSA-Fort Sam Houston to see if they are carrying disease-causing viruses, she
said. Females are collected because they are the only mosquitoes that bite.
At JBSA-Lackland, Jorge Rodriguez-Catalan, 559th AMDS
community health manager, said vector surveillance is based on factors such as
climatic patterns, emerging diseases and resources and San Antonio has the
perfect climate for many different species of mosquitoes.
“For the past couple of years, our surveillance has been
very active and our findings have been well within what we’ve expected in the
area,” Rodriguez-Catalan said.
“I don’t foresee anything unusual this year. We are doing
all we can when it comes to vector surveillance and expect to have a good
program this year in regard to trapping, identifying and testing for diseases,”
he added.
Surveillance programs at JBSA-Lackland and JBSA-Randolph
have yielded few results at this point, Rodriguez-Catalan and Fierro said.
“There is nothing significant so far, but it is very early
in the season,” Rodriguez-Catalan said.
In regard to the Zika virus, Rodriguez-Catalan said it is
important to know about the signs and symptoms and for providers to conduct
thorough travel histories on their patients, especially pregnant women and
those who’ve traveled to areas identified by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
“The CDC has put out guidance for providers to follow at
www.cdc.gov/zika,” Rodriguez-Catalan said.
JBSA public health officials said prevention is the best measure
against mosquitoes.
Legge said wearing the right clothing outdoors – such as
long sleeves and long pants – and using mosquito repellents containing diethyl
toluamide, commonly known as DEET, or permethrin are strong countermeasures
against mosquito bites.
Fierro said an effective dose of DEET is important, so
people should read the label on the bottle.
“Regardless of the type of mosquito, the way to prevent
disease transmission is the same,” Rodriguez-Catalan said. “Avoid mosquitoes
when they are most active. Treating your clothing with DEET and permethrin and
eliminating breeding sites are your best protection. You should also
mosquito-proof your home by keeping screens on windows and doors closed and to
use air conditioning when available.”
Breeding sites include jars, bottles, tires, flower pots,
bird baths and pet dishes.
“Mosquitoes can even lay their eggs on a leaf that has
collected water,” Fierro said. “Anything that collects water and is stagnant
for five to seven days can be a breeding site for mosquitoes.”
For more information on diseases, prevention and proper use
of insect repellents, visit
http://www.cdc.gov/Features/stopmosquitoes/index.html.