Territory Sees No New Cases Of Zika This Week, D.O.H. Says

ST. CROIX — The Department of Health on Tuesday revealed that for the past week, there were no new cases of the Zika virus in the territory, keeping the islands’ count at 24, with 15 in St. Croix, 8 in St. Thomas and 1 in St. John.

The announcement is good news for the territory, following a recent finding by scientists that the disease can be transmitted by oral sex.

D.O.H. Acting Commissioner Dr. Michelle Davis has said the territory needs to remain “diligent to protect ourselves and the health of future generations from this virus,” and that residents should “use insect repellent, wear protective clothes, and mosquito-proof your home.”

The department has been making available a lot of resources to combat the virus, including free Zika testing locations. D.O.H. also said it would inspect the homes of pregnant women for mosquitoes and mosquito larvae, and provide treatment as needed in the homes of those pregnant women who receive testing.

Pregnant women are also eligible to receive a free Zika prevention kit from 14 healthcare clinics across the Virgin Islands. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently delivered 750 kits to St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas. Each kit includes educational materials in English and Spanish, EPA-registered insect repellent, permethrin spray repellent for treating clothing, condoms to avoid sexual transmission of Zika, treatment tabs for preventing mosquitoes from breeding in standing water, and a bed net.

Zika is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week after being bitten by an infected mosquito. People usually don’t get sick enough to go to the hospital, and they very rarely die of Zika. For this reason, many people might not realize they have been infected.

The following steps can be taken to prevent Zika: wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants, stay in places with air conditioning and window and door screens to keep mosquitoes outside, use Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered insect repellents with one of the following active ingredients: DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus, or para-menthane-diol.