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Science

This Season, Connecticut State Officials Will Test Mosquitoes For Zika Virus

Connecticut Public Radio | By Patrick Skahill
Published June 1, 2016 at 1:36 PM EDT
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The Asian Tiger Mosquito (Aedes albopictus) has been detected in lower Fairfield and New Haven Counties and is capable of carrying the Zika virus.

Mosquito-testing season has begun in Connecticut and public health officials have added a new virus to their monitoring list this year: Zika. 

Zika joins a list of other diseases the state is already on the lookout for -- viruses like West Nile and Eastern Equine Encephalitis.

In an email, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Health said so far, seven cases of Zika in humans have been reported in Connecticut -- including two cases in pregnant patients.

All cases of Zika in the state were contracted while outside of the country in Central or South America, the Caribbean or Puerto Rico.

Zika is mainly transmitted by the yellow fever mosquito, which doesn't occur in Connecticut. It can also be carried by the Asian Tiger mosquito, which has been identified in lower Fairfield and New Haven counties.

The DPH said mosquitoes will be trapped and tested in more than 70 towns from now through October.
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Patrick Skahill
Patrick Skahill is a reporter and digital editor at Connecticut Public. Prior to becoming a reporter, he was the founding producer of Connecticut Public Radio's The Colin McEnroe Show, which began in 2009. Patrick's reporting has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition, Here & Now, and All Things Considered. He has also reported for the Marketplace Morning Report. He can be reached at pskahill@ctpublic.org.
See stories by Patrick Skahill

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