State of Kansas researching Zika virus

The state received money on Monday to track and research the Zika virus in Kansas.

To date, eight Kansas residents have contracted Zika from traveling to other countries, and about 200 patients in Kansas have been tested for the virus, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

None of the eight cases involved pregnant women.

And it’s unlikely that a mosquito carrying the Zika virus will be found in Kansas, said Charles Hunt, state epidemiologist for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

That’s because the virus is found mostly in tropical environments – recently sweeping Latin America and the Caribbean.

The two species of mosquitoes that can carry Zika are Aedes ageypti and Aedes albopictus. Both species are found in Kansas, but not carrying the virus.

The federal money that became available money will pay for the state to trap and survey the mosquitoes, more closely monitor birth defect cases and educate the public about Zika risks and the prevention of mosquito bites and breeding. The state also received more money to get rid of unused tires, which can become mosquito breeding sites.

The mosquito trapping has already begun. A company contracted by the state began setting traps in mid-May that target the two mosquitoes that can carry the Zika virus. The company moves the traps around the state periodically to survey different areas.

Charles Hunt, state epidemiologist for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said the trapping would end sometime in October or November and findings would be published a month or two later.

Mosquito traps in Kansas previously targeted only the kind of mosquitoes that can carry West Nile virus and only incidentally caught the types of mosquitoes that can carry Zika.

The goal of the trapping, Hunt said, is to get a better picture of how many mosquitoes are in Kansas that could carry the Zika virus.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned pregnant women Monday to avoid a Zika-stricken part of Miami. It also warned that couples who have been there recently should put off having children for at least two months, after the number of people feared infected through mosquito bites in the U.S. climbed to 14.

CDC officials said they could not remember another time in the agency’s 70-year history when it told members of the public not to travel someplace in the U.S.

Zika infections in pregnant women can cause severe brain-related birth defects, including extremely small skulls. The global outbreak has led to more than 1,800 serious defects.

All 14 cases are thought to have occurred in Miami’s Wynwood arts district, a trendy, fast-gentrifying neighborhood of warehouses, art galleries, restaurants and boutiques.

National health officials last Friday announced that mosquitoes have apparently started spreading Zika on the U.S. mainland, citing four cases they strongly believe were caused by bites. Ten more cases were announced Monday, even though Florida authorities have yet to find any mosquitoes actually carrying the virus.

Contributing: Associated Press

This story was originally published August 1, 2016 at 7:18 PM with the headline "State of Kansas researching Zika virus."