Gulf Coast Labeled "Ground Zero" For Zika Outbreak
Posted by Eco Solutions on
The concern is magnified this year as health officials scramble to prepare for the mosquito-borne Zika epidemic that has spread to 37 counties and territories in the Americas and is threatening the summer Olympic games in Brazil.
“We have similar weather conditions to South and Central Americas,” said Jim McVay, director of health promotion and chronic disease with the Alabama Department of Public Health. “We are getting into mosquito season … Certainly we are highly promoting that communities and families look for the breeding grounds for mosquitos and to do away with them.”
Alabama health officials are urging prevention and protection throughout the state, but specifically in the coastal area, which some national media accounts describe as a “ground zero” for a Zika outbreak in the U.S.
By