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Tennessee health officials don’t think Zika virus is a serious threat locally

Samples of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, responsible for transmitting dengue and Zika, sit in a petri dish at the Fiocruz Institute in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil.
Samples of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, responsible for transmitting dengue and Zika, sit in a petri dish at the Fiocruz Institute in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil. Samples of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, responsible for transmitting dengue and Zika, sit in a petri dish at the Fiocruz Institute in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil.

By Steve Johnson 7 min read

REPORTED ZIKA CASES

Alabama: 2Georgia: 11Tennessee: 2Nationwide: 358Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Despite warnings that the Zika virus is becoming “scarier,” health officials in Tennessee say they don’t expect the mosquito-borne virus to become a serious health hazard this summer.

“It’s still pretty small,” said Dr. Mark Anderson, with CHI Memorial’s Infectious Disease Associates. “I am concerned, but it’s not the biggest thing on my worry list right now.”

The concern comes from Zika’s effects in the countries where it is widespread, basically every place in Central and South America and the Caribbean except Argentina, Paraguay and Chile. Brazil in particular has experienced an outbreak of babies born with smaller heads and brains (microcephaly) and brain-related physical problems that appear to be linked to Zika.

“The more we learn about Zika, the less we like that virus,” said Dr. William Shaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt’s School of Medicine who works regularly with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Tennessee Department of Health.