Zika Virus And Other Mosquito Viruses

Of all the mosquito viruses the Zika virus appears to have caught the public’s attention. This is likely because of the press and TV coverage of people who have acquired the Zika virus even though the numbers are very low. If you have not been traveling abroad to areas where this virus is active, then you will be unlikely to be in any trouble just yet. There have so far been no reported incidences of people having caught this virus from mosquito bites within the USA, let alone in Georgia!

Zika Virus and the Aedes Aegypti Mosquito

As of May,2016, there has been only one incidence of the Zika virus spreading within the USA, and that by a man to his sexual partner through intercourse. While there have as yet been no incidences of the Zika virus having been transmitted in the USA by means of a mosquito bite, it will not be long before that happens. The result is children suffering severe brain abnormalities. Among these are microcephaly, the child being born with a small brain and head.

The mosquito that is known to transmit the Zika virus is the Aedes aegypti mosquito that is normally active in the morning and early afternoon. It is identifiable by its white leg stripes, although it passes on more than just the Zika virus: it also transmits Yellow Fever, Dengue Fever and Chikungunya. None of these are pleasant, and Zika has risen from obscurity to become the best known mosquito virus worldwide after malaria.

So let’s not allow ourselves to get carried away by the Zika virus. It has yet to be transmitted in the USA via a mosquito bite and we have other viruses to deal with meanwhile. Chikungunya is not to be ignored: it causes severe joint pain, headache, a general feelings of disability and it also gives rise to a rash. It is passed on by mosquitoes, and is not a pleasant condition. Fluids and Tylenol help, but do not uses aspirin or any other NSAID. That’s because if you also have dengue, then can cause uncontrolled bleeding. NSAID’s tend to reduce the ability of the blood to clot.

How Mosquito Diseases are Passed On

The disease does not come from the mosquito itself. When a mosquito bites and infected person it is not biting as you would with your teeth, but is sucking in your blood. Blood provides female mosquitoes with its only source of protein, which it then uses to create its eggs. That’s why males do not suck your blood – they have no need to because they don’t lay eggs! Like the females, they get nutrition from plant nectar.

Diseases are passed on when a female mosquito bites an infected animal (human or not) and sucks in the virus or bacteria with the blood. Next time it bites, that bacterium or virus is then passed onto the person bitten. That’s why diseases such as malaria are so common in warm countries such as Africa and many Asian countries.

Conclusion: Mosquito Viruses

There are more mosquito viruses than just the Zika virus. In fact, as of now, Zika is the least of your worries. If you apply the treatment you should be applying, then you will protect yourself against several viruses, each of which can do you damage. So don’t focus on Zika right now, but keep it in mind. It is important that Zika does not take our eyes off the other viruses that are being transmitted by mosquitoes daily within the USA and Georgia!

If you want more information on the Zika virus, or how to protect yourself and your family from other mosquito viruses then click to Contact Us Here or pick up your phone and give us a call here: (404) 941-0720

Mr. Mister Mosquito Control
4016 Flowers Rd #400
Atlanta, GA 30360
(404) 941-0720