July 15, 2016
Condoms and bug spray are just two of the items pregnant women in Pennsylvania will find in Zika virus prevention kits distributed free to them by the state Department of Health.
Gov. Tom Wolf's office announced the launch of the prevention kit program for pregnant women on Thursday. The kits will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis at Pennsylvania health centers, WIC offices and other nonprofit organizations that serve low-income or homeless women.
The kits also contain educational information in both English and Spanish on the threat and transmission of the Zika virus, (which can be transferred through sexual contact, hence the condoms,) standing water tablets for killing mosquito larva and permethrin spray repellent for treating clothing and shoes.
The insect repellant found in the kit is EPA-registered, which is recommended as the best and safest to use for the prevention of the virus.
To date, there have been numerous cases of pregnant women in America contracting the Zika virus, but none were bitten by a virus-carrying mosquito in the country. However, there is a threat that the Aedes aegypti mosquito – the kind that carries the virus and is found in parts of the United States – could lead to cases that originate here.
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