HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania has launched a new initiative to combat the spread of the Zika virus. The state Department of Health is distributing free educational prevention kits to pregnant women through health care centers.
Secretary of the Department of Health, Karen Murphy says protecting pregnant women, protects unborn babies, “The Zika virus to those that are healthy really is a very mild disease in most cases. But what we’re really concerned about is pregnant women and today we want to protect pregnant women because the Zika virus has been associated with birth defects.”
Zika is spread through mosquitoes carrying the virus and through sexual contact with infected individuals. The prevention kits contain insect repellent for skin, permethrin spray repellent for treating clothing and shoes, standing water tablets for killing mosquito larva and educational materials.
Murphy says this is the first step of a Zika response plan put in place by the state, “The Wolf administration has taken Zika very seriously. The Departments of Health and Environmental Protection have been working closely to implement the commonwealth’s Zika virus response plan to better help us protect the health of more than12 million people who call Pennsylvania home.”
No cases of Zika in Pennsylvania or in the U.S. have occurred as a result of locally acquired infections, however, DEP personnel are monitoring for the presence of mosquitoes that have the potential to transmit the virus. (India Reynolds)