Medical leaders at San Antonio symposium say the Zika virus could be transmitted in Texas as early as this summer

Dr. Anil Mangla, of San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, discusses halting the Zika virus at a Wednesday symposium. Dr. Anil Mangla, of San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, discusses halting the Zika virus at a Wednesday symposium. Photo: Kate Carlson / San Antonio Express-News Photo: Kate Carlson / San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 29 Caption Close Medical leaders at San Antonio symposium say the Zika virus could be transmitted in Texas as early as this summer 1 / 29 Back to Gallery

Tropical medicine experts say the Zika virus could be transmitted within Texas as early as this summer, if the virus follows the traditional course of similar diseases.

“I believe we have all of the risk factors,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, Texas Children’s Hospital endowed chair in tropical pediatrics, at a symposium Wednesday at the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio. “We have a real possibility (of Zika being transmitted) here.”

So far, none of the 42 cases of Zika reported statewide have been transmitted in Texas; 41 involved travelers who were infected abroad and diagnosed after they returned home. One had sexual contact with someone who acquired the infection while traveling abroad. In San Antonio, there have been seven cases. No cases of the disease have been reported as transmitted in the United States.

Hotez was one of four medical experts who presented at the symposium, which focused on the history of the virus, its symptoms and efforts to prevent it. He said more health care professionals need to be aware of the symptoms — fever, itching, skin rashes, muscle pain and joint pain — to be able to identify and report the disease.

Also Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott urged the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to approve the Texas Department of State Health Services’ funding requests totaling just more than $11 million for Zika preparedness and response efforts in Texas.

The United States first took notice of the Zika virus last year as it spread across South and Central American countries. While most people who contract Zika experience the mild symptoms, it can cause serious birth defects when it’s contracted by a pregnant woman.

“In San Antonio we are trying to be ahead of the game,” said Dr. Anil Mangla, director of the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District Communicable Disease Division. “As of now we are safe in San Antonio but doing background and doing surveillance to make sure we don’t have Zika.”

The Aedes aegypti mosquito — the species of mosquito that transmits the disease — makes up 33 percent of the mosquito population in San Antonio, Mangla said. The mosquito population and diseases they carry are monitored weekly to help track Zika.

If Zika is transmitted in Texas, Mangla said a major step to control the disease will be geofences. This technology would establish a virtual radius around the residences of people with Zika and anywhere they had been in the preceding days. This system could be used for example, to alert blood banks so that the person who has the disease or anyone who might have been infected by the victim isn’t allowed to give blood for 28 days.

Prevention is key to controlling the disease, the experts said.

“The No. 1 thing I want to bring up is that there will have to be personal responsibility in terms of taking care of your backyard, because the mosquitoes live very close to humans, which are the host,” Mangla said. “The second thing we can do is to protect ourselves.”

Widespread mosquito spraying isn’t necessarily effective in containing the disease, the experts said. What does work is eliminating standing pools of water in yards and public places and eliminating clutter in personal living spaces to help prevent mosquitoes from breeding. Wearing long sleeves and pants and using mosquito repellant also helps prevent the disease.

kcarlson@express-news.com