Davidson County reported its first confirmed case of Zika on Tuesday, from a resident who recently traveled to Honduras. The Metro Public Health Department is saying there’s no need to be too worried — but is still imploring people to follow familiar mosquito prevention tips.
Public health departments have been talking for months about the importance of getting rid of standing water, keeping lawns mowed and wearing bug spray to lower the mosquito populations and prevent the transmission of diseases. Metro’s director of environmental health, Sanmi Areola, says that’s even more important now that there’s a case of Zika in town.
“There are no new challenges per say. We are not going to be doing anything differently than we have done in the past,” he says. But “we will continue our surveillance, and we will continue educating the public.”
The health department is also keeping tabs on the infected traveler to make sure mosquitos don’t bite him.
“We don’t want local mosquitos to become infected. If they are, the potential for spreading it to other people is there,” Areola says. “So we worked with him, and he’s been very cooperative.”
Health officials won’t say who the traveler is, citing privacy issues, but they say he lives in the Otter Creek area, which is around Forest Hills.
According to the state, this is the seventh confirmed case of Zika in Tennessee so far, although all of the cases have been brought in by travelers, not spread by mosquitos. Metro hasn’t found any local mosquitos yet carrying the disease.
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