You had a great trip. The bags are unpacked. You're even pretty sure you avoided being bitten by the mosquitoes that can carry Zika virus.
Back to the old at-home routine, right?
Not so fast.
If you've visited an area with Zika, it's important to keep taking precautions to prevent mosquito bites for three weeks after coming home and prevent sexual transmission for six months--even though you've returned to a place where Zika isn't spreading and even if you don't feel sick.
Why? You might be carrying the Zika virus, even though you feel fine. Most people infected with Zika don't have any symptoms, yet the virus can still be found in their blood. So an uninfected mosquito--maybe one in your back yard or where you work--could pick up the virus by biting you, and then pass it to someone else through a bite.
Serious consequences
This cycle of infection can be difficult to break, and in the case of Zika it can cause devastating health effects for some. For instance, if a pregnant woman is infected with Zika, the virus can be passed to her fetus, potentially leading to congenital Zika syndrome which includes microcephaly and other serious birth defects. Babies born with congenital Zika syndrome have underdeveloped brains and often have serious, lifelong, and sometimes life-threatening problems.
Zika also is strongly associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome, an uncommon illness of the nervous system in which a person's own immune system damages nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis. Symptoms include weakness of the arms and legs. In severe cases, Guillain-Barré syndrome can affect the muscles that control breathing, and a patient may need to be placed on a ventilator to support breathing. These symptoms can last a few weeks or several months. While most people fully recover, some have permanent damage.
Keys to prevention
Fortunately, you can take steps to prevent mosquitoes from biting you and possibly spreading Zika to others.
Take these steps after returning from a trip to a Zika-affected area:
•Wear socks, long pants, and long-sleeved shirts to make it more difficult for mosquitoes to bite you. You can also treat clothing with permethrin, or buy pre-treated clothing.
•Use insect repellent on exposed skin. CDC recommends using EPA-registered insect repellents with one of the following active ingredients: DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus, para-menthane-diol, or 2-undecanone. Insect repellents containing DEET should not be used on children under 2 months of age; oil of lemon eucalyptus products should not be used on children under 3 years of age).
•Take steps to control mosquitoes in and around your home. Once a week, empty and scrub, turn over, cover, or throw out containers that hold water where mosquitoes can lay eggs. Use larvicides in standing water that will not be used for drinking and cannot be dumped out or covered, and install or repair screens on windows and doors to keep mosquitoes outside.
Another way to prevent the spread of Zika
There's something else you need to think about if you are sexually active. Because Zika virus can be spread through sex, it's especially important for people who have visited areas with Zika to take precautions against spreading the virus in this way.
Pregnant couples in which one or both partners live in or have visited areas with Zika should use condoms and/or other barriers consistently and correctly every time during sex, or abstain from sex during the pregnancy. Couples who want to conceive should also take precautions and discuss travel to areas of Zika with their physician. After speaking with their health care provider, some couples may decide to delay a pregnancy.
Women who are not pregnant or trying to get pregnant should wait at least eight weeks after travel or from the start of having Zika symptoms, before having unprotected sex. Men should wait six months after their symptoms started or their last possible exposure if they didn't get sick, to avoid sexual transmission of Zika.
Finally, if you start to feel sick after returning from your trip see a healthcare provider and make sure to explain your recent travel history during the visit. The most common symptoms of Zika virus disease include fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis or red eyes. If you need more information, please visit our After Travel page at http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/after-trip.
Your vital role
Since the beginning of this outbreak, CDC staff and our public health partners throughout the United States and the world have worked hard to help prevent the spread of Zika and protect people at risk of being infected--particularly pregnant women and their families.
CDC scientists are working every day to better understand Zika. Our insect experts are helping to control mosquito populations in areas where Zika is spreading. And we're always watching where the virus is spreading so we can provide up-to-date information on our websites and in travel notices.
But public health officials can't do it alone. We need your help.
By taking steps against further spread of Zika after returning from a place where the virus is spreading, you, too, can help protect your family and community from the serious and costly consequences of this disease.