As mosquito season begins, will Zika strike here?
West Nile virus. Sunburn. Lyme disease.
Do we need to add Zika virus to the list of ways nature could hurt us this summer?
The answer is: No. Yes. Maybe.
It depends on who you are, where you go and how fast scientists definitively determine if common house mosquitoes can transmit the virus.
<h2>What is Zika</h2>
Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that can cause a mild, flu-like disease. Birds harbor the West Nile virus, but it's mostly primates, including we humans, who are reservoirs for Zika.
Scientists have known about it since 1947, discovering it in a monkey in the Zika Forest of Uganda.
Health authorities have reported small outbreaks in humans since then but say there may have been many more that were unrecognized, as Zika's symptoms - mild fever, rash and joint pain - are similar to many other diseases'. Outbreaks were reported in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands.
But last year, a large outbreak occurred in Brazil. The most worrisome aspect now is that, more and more, scientists think if a pregnant woman gets the disease, her baby may suffer severe brain-related birth defects.
Zika has been linked to an increase in microcephaly, in which a baby is born with an abnormally small head, usually indicating that the brain did not fully develop.
There's also a strong suspicion that Zika virus may lead some people to suffer Guillan-Barré syndrome, in which their immune system attacks their nervous system, weakening muscles and causing paralysis.
So far, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there have been no reports of mosquitoes in the U.S. causing Zika.
As of April, the 388 cases reported here were contracted when the people traveled to other parts of the world where mosquitoes carry the disease. Seven cases have turned up in Illinois. There have been 503 cases reported in U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico.
<h2>Which skeeters?</h2>
Working in our favor in Illinois is that the two kinds of mosquitoes transmitting Zika don't live in the state.
The transmitters are Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. They can't survive winters up here, unlike Culex pipiens (the mosquito that transmits West Nile) and Aedes vexans (annoying to humans, giver of heartworm to dogs).
An Aedes albopictus sighting was last reported in Illinois in 2007, said Michael Szyska, director of the Northwest Mosquito Abatement District in Wheeling.
“It's possible there may be other species (that carry Zika). We don't know of them. It's just too early,” he said.
But to be safe, the district, and mosquito-catching agencies throughout the suburbs, will be adding traps this year that specifically attract Aedes aegypti and albopictus mosquitoes, he said.
The traps simulate the kind of places they like to breed: containers that hold stagnant water and organic debris.
Should either variety show up in a trap, the district will test the mosquito for Zika and share the results with the Illinois Department of Public Health.
<h2>How not to get Zika</h2>
The virus can be transmitted from human to human, through blood and semen, according to the CDC.
And there is no vaccine against it.
So to avoid getting it?
<ul>
<li>Don't travel to areas where mosquitoes carry Zika, especially if you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant. The CDC posts a map on its website of areas with active Zika transmission.</li>
<li>If you do travel, follow the usual precautions for fighting off mosquitoes. Namely, use a repellent containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus or para-menthane-diol. Wear long-sleeved shirts and pants.</li>
<li>One of the mosquitoes that carries Zika loves urban areas. So stay in places that have air conditioning, and screens and windows on doors. Failing that, use mosquito netting when sleeping.</li>
<li>Don't have unprotected sex with men who have recently had Zika or been in areas where Zika is prevalent. Zika stays viable in semen longer than it does in blood.</li>
</ul>
Speaking of blood, the Food and Drug Administration has asked blood banks to avoid collecting blood products from people if they have traveled to the Zika zone within the previous 28 days.
<h2>Will it move here?</h2>
So what happens if someone gets Zika while traveling, comes home to Chicago and is bitten by one of our local mosquitoes? Will that mosquito then give the disease to others here?
There hasn't been a lot of research on that. Or until recently, much on Zika transmission at all.
But a scientist reported in March that it appeared Culex mosquitoes fed Zika-infected blood did replicate the virus in their salivary glands.
The study was conducted at a government laboratory in Brazil. Whether they can then pass it on to humans is still being studied.
"They (common mosquitoes) do not appear to be good vectors (of Zika)," said Dave McLaughlin, vice president of marketing for St. Charles-based Clarke Environmental, which fights mosquitoes worldwide.
"But you will never say 'never.'"