Curbing Zika, Continuing the Fight

In July 2016, the first locally transmitted outbreak of the Zika virus in the continental United States was confirmed in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami-Dade County, Fla. As of 2018, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is no current local transmission of Zika in the continental U.S.¹ — a credit to the preparedness of the Sunshine State and its mosquito control professionals.

However, the damage from the initial Zika outbreak from 2015 to 2016 in Latin America and U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, has had lasting impacts on individuals and communities from those areas, providing important lessons on the devastation that can be caused by mosquito-borne diseases.

ZIKA’S GLOBAL IMPACT. On the very last day of 2015, the first Zika case was reported in Puerto Rico and by April 2017, 41,807 cases of Zika in the U.S. (including the 50 states, District of Columbia and the territories of American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico) were reported to the CDC, according to an article published in the National Library of Medicine². Puerto Rico was hit the hardest, with 35,418 of those cases being reported on the island alone.

Zika virus, which is primarily caused by a bite from infected Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, causes mild symptoms in about the one in five people who show symptoms, the Cleveland Clinic reported³. More seriously, the disease also can cause infants to be born with congenital conditions such as microcephaly if a pregnant woman becomes infected. The disease has also been known to cause Guillain-Barré syndrome, leading to weakness, numbness or paralysis. Additionally, Zika can be sexually transmitted.

According to an article from the National Library of Medicine, an estimated 5,900 to 10,300 pregnant women were infected during the initial Zika outbreak in Puerto Rico⁴. Microcephaly causes infants’ heads to be smaller than average and can lead to other neurological complications.

REACTING TO THE DISEASE IN FLORIDA. When Greg Pettis, vice president of business development, Nature-Cide, and owner of Dominion Pest Control, Lancaster, Pa., saw Zika virus cases being confirmed in Florida, he was nervous, especially after observing the detrimental impact the disease, specifically microcephaly, was having on infants in Puerto Rico.

“I had been very concerned about what I was seeing in Florida because I knew that if Zika had taken root, the types of mosquitoes that it was transmitted by, we have up North as well,” Pettis said. “It really disturbs me to think that [microcephaly] could’ve happened in the [continental] United States because it was already happening in Puerto Rico at the time.”

At the time of Zika’s initial confirmation in Florida, Pettis said mosquito control companies in Miami-Dade County were receiving phone calls from residential customers left and right who wanted their yards treated for mosquitoes.

Pettis, who also is an educator in the pest control industry, then went down to Florida to provide support and advice on mosquito control and subsequent products, acknowledging the rapid response the state took to address Zika.

STATE-LEVEL INTERVENTION. Florida’s state government at the time of the Zika outbreak in 2016, led by former Gov. Rick Scott, acted quickly to curb the spread of the disease with the help of mosquito control experts and programs, Pettis said.

In total, the state recorded more than 300 locally acquired cases and 1,471 cases overall from 2016 to 2018, according to the Florida Department of Health⁵ and National Library of Medicine⁶, respectively.

The state’s efforts against Zika were multifaceted: receiving federal funds; identifying red zones; spreading education and awareness; and applying larvicides and adulticides. According to the CDC,7 the Miami-Dade County Mosquito Control District, for the first time in its history, used a combination of area-wide ultralow-volume (ULV) adulticide and low- volume larvicide spraying to effectively control Aedes aegypti mosquitoes during the outbreak.

Adriane Rogers, current executive director of Florida’s Pasco County Mosquito Control District, served as the medical entomologist for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services during the Zika outbreak. Rogers has been working in mosquito control capacities for 18 years and started her career in the field working for the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District.

In 2009-2010, dengue had been locally acquired in Key West, Fla., and was the first such case in the U.S. in 40 years, Rogers said. She credited the district with effectively controlling Aedes aegypti and the virus and her understanding of how to halt the spread of mosquito-borne diseases.

As medical entomologist during the virus’ outbreak, Rogers and others ensured every county in Florida was equipped to handle the spread of Zika; shared educational resources across the state; conducted door-to-door inspections; helped pest control companies with outreach; set up a Zika task force; communicated with state officials; and used funding to secure traps and resources for counties to track mosquitoes.

“I think a key thing that Zika showed us was that we didn’t really understand the true geographic distribution of Aedes aegypti,” Rogers said. “[Zika] really opened our eyes.”

As of 2025, there remain zero cases of locally acquired Zika virus in the continental U.S. and only one case of the disease that has been locally acquired in a U.S. territory, according to CDC.

FURTHERING THE MISSION. Phil Goodman, chairman, District 2, Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, was appointed to his position by Gov. Scott in 2011. For Goodman, whose background is in chemistry and business, mosquito control is about protecting public health, the environment and local economy. Tourism in the Keys is a large driver of the local economy, and mosquitoes pose a danger to that economic sector, Goodman said.

“There really wouldn’t be a tourist industry in Florida without mosquito control,” Goodman said. “Florida went from [a place] nobody wanted to visit to really an economic powerhouse. And mosquito control is really one of the main catalysts driving that.”

Goodman also has been on the board of the Florida Mosquito Control Association (FMCA) for the past five years and said one of the benefits of the association is how it connects professionals and leaders from different mosquito districts around the state. Each district is able to learn from one another and share their experiences and lessons learned while continuing the fight against mosquitoes that carry threats to public health.

“Mosquito-borne diseases are certainly the No. 1 issue for us,” Goodman said. “All the work we do is to try to prevent those diseases. We also really are concerned with the comfort of the people and the quality of life. That technology has also greatly improved. So overall, we’ve been controlling the mosquitoes. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best it’s ever been.”

As professionals in Florida and around the U.S. continue to protect public health from mosquito-borne illnesses, being proactive remains as important as ever along with being able to properly fund those programs, Rogers said — an ongoing issue facing mosquito control districts.

“I think [Zika] reinforced that mosquito control is not an optional structure in Florida,” Rogers said. “It’s a core component of public preparedness. … We really have to do our due diligence and continue to be proactive and as forward thinking as possible so that we can continue to win this fight.”

The author is assistant editor of PCT magazine.

References:

1 https://www.cdc.gov/zika/zika-cases-us/index.html

2 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5725246/

3 https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/16077-zika-virus

4 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27544075/

5 https://www.floridahealth.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/guidebook-chapter-six.pdf

6 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7314660/ 

7 https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/19-1606_article