Mike Cronin

mcronin@citizen-times.com

A website developed by two Asheville companies that tracks Zika hotspots in the continental United States launched Tuesday.

The collaboration between FernLeaf Interactive and CASE Consultants International produced an online tool that pinpoints where recent ecological conditions support the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

That insect is the Zika virus’ primary vector.

The site, ZikaZoneUSA.com, uses data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide an up-to-date map where Aedes aegypti is most likely to breed, bite and potentially infect humans with Zika.

“The fast spreading nature of this virus and the potential impact on public health make it important for people to be aware of the risks in their neighborhood and take the necessary precautions,” said Marjorie McGuirk, CASE president, in a prepared statement.

“We bring together microbiological and epidemiological expertise, environmental data mining, GIS analytics, and cloud computing,” said Jeff Hicks, managing partner of FernLeaf, in a prepared statement. “As we learn more about this emerging threat, we will continue to refine our process.”

The idea for the Zika map emerged from a conversation that Brunilda Lugo, an epidemiologist and CASE associate, had with a data expert at FernLeaf, Lugo said in a Tuesday phone interview.

She had been researching any relationships between temperature and precipitation and “locally acquired dengue cases in southeast Florida,” Lugo said.

Dengue is also a mosquito-borne viral infection. It causes flu-like symptoms and can be fatal.

The same mosquito spreads Zika and dengue, Lugo said.

“So it can transfer,” she said. “The same environmental conditions apply.”

Lugo and her FernLeaf counterparts decided to use Lugo’s findings to make the Zika map.

“It’s so timely,” she said. “It was amazing even to us” that the data existed to create a tool right away that could help the public “take precautions,” Lugo said.

“We said, ‘We need this out there as soon as possible.’”

Lugo and her colleagues plan to observe the public response and interest in the map, then “decide what to do next,” she said.

Fernleaf and CASE also may expand the tool to track other diseases in countries outside the United States.

And executives at the companies are considering a subscription service that would provide more in-depth local analysis.

Zika typically does not cause any symptoms in people infected with the virus.

But pregnant women who contract it run the risk of their babies being born with birth defects.

Zika also might trigger Guillain-Barré syndrome. Victims of that disorder endure their body’s immune system attacking part of their nervous systems.

Mosquito bites and sexual contact with someone recently infected with Zika transmits the virus.

No vaccine exists for Zika.

The creators of the site have released the tool in open beta and welcome user feedback.

Fernleaf and CASE are based downtown at The Collider, a climate-science and business center.