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WILKES-BARRE — The Zika virus hasn’t surfaced in Northeastern Pennsylvania, but the city’s health department is taking precautions to guard against it.
Wilkes-Barre Health Department Director Henry Radulski said an upcoming tire collection is part of a program to prevent the spread of the virus that’s transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito.
The virus at its mildest surfaces with symptoms of fever, rash and joint pain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the other extreme, it can cause the birth defect of microcephaly, leaving a newborn with a head smaller than expected and a brain not properly developed.
“Really what we want to do is we want to eliminate as many breeding places for mosquitoes as possible,” Radulski said Thursday.
Water that pools in old and discarded tires is a prime breeding ground for mosquitoes, and the collection on June 25 aims to take minimize that threat.
The species of the mosquito mostly associated with the transmission, Aedes aegypti, isn’t projected to reach Northeastern Pennsylvania, Radulski said. The closest it’s projected to come is the southeast part of the state, he said.
In Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Aedes albopictus species, is prevalent and can transmit the West Nile virus. The state has a multi-agency program between the departments of Environmental Protection, Health and Agriculture to monitor and control that virus.
Of the 110 mosquitoes collected in Luzerne County, seven have been tested for West Nile this year with negative results, according to the state. There have been no reported cases in either humans, birds or animals in Luzerne County.
“We know that Aedes aegypti is a vector for the Zika virus,” Radulski said. The Aedes albopictus has been shown to carry the virus in Mexico, he added. “It’s not been shown to carry here yet and that’s a concern,” he said.
The collection, paid with a public health preparedness grant, is timed to coincide with the mosquito season that began on June 1 and continues up to the start of cold weather. City residents can drop off up to six tires per vehicle at the Department of Public Works yard. The city has contracted with a company that will recycle the tires, Radulski said.