2. Remember to dress properly when going outside and avoiding peak times of mosquito activity.
“The mosquitoes that transmit the Zika virus prefer dark colors, and they tend to bite during the day,” he said. “So, wear light-colored clothing, and make sure that the clothing is very loose, because mosquitoes can and will bite through tight-fitting clothing.”
3. It is important to regularly apply bug repellent that has been registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) .
“There’s a lot of repellents out there, stuff on the internet, that makes all these claims about how they repel mosquitoes with oil of cloves and things like that,” he said. “But this is potentially a matter of life and death, and you should really stick to the stuff that has been registered with the EPA.”
Parents should also keep in mind that many EPA-registered bug sprays contains a chemical known as DEET (N, N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide), which can be dangerous to humans, especially children, if utilized incorrectly. Only sprays containing less than 30 percent DEET should be used, and care should be taken to avoid spreading the chemical to a child’s mouth, eyes or hands.
Since Zika infections can be asymptomatic and therefore hard to recognize, travelers should continue to wear bug repellent for up to two weeks after returning home as well, to prevent an unknown infection from spreading to local mosquito populations.