Zika had barely cracked the national consciousness last year when the Katyals had their McCandless yard sprayed for pests.
After one of the kids came down with Lyme disease, their worry was ticks. They wanted the disease-prone parasites to be gone.
Now the family has an extra reason to cheer the commercial insecticide treatments, said Tricia Katyal, whose lawn and garden took another misting Friday from Mosquito Joe of Suburban Pittsburgh. The year-old franchisee doubled its business from last fall to this spring, propelled largely by worries about Lyme disease and Zika, according to the Fox Chapel-based group.
“When the news came out about Zika, we saw it as an added benefit,” said Mrs. Katyal, 48, a mother of four. “We were glad we had the service and thought we had good reason to continue.”
Plenty of families agree, with concern over the mosquito-borne virus driving about half the business growth this season for the Mosquito Joe parent company in Virginia Beach, Va., said CEO Kevin Wilson. He said the firm operates across 170 locations in 27 states but does not disclose specific sales numbers.
“Zika won’t just go away. Once it comes to this country, just like the West Nile virus has come to this country, it’ll be here,” Mr. Wilson said. He said his company ranks among the largest mosquito-focused businesses in the country.
Still, public health and environmental agencies in Pennsylvania don’t recommend proactive commercial spraying to guard against Zika, which has reached epidemic proportions in Central and South America since early 2015. While state officials don’t discourage the spraying, either, they said no mosquitoes carrying the virus have been detected anywhere in the continental United States.
“There is no Zika risk right now. I don’t even want to pretend there is one” in the region, said Karen Hacker, director at the Allegheny County Health Department. “But there are other mosquitoes out there, and there is always a West Nile risk.”
The department suggests people wear insect repellents containing DEET when they’re in tall grass or wooded areas. Such products cut the risk of Lyme disease and West Nile virus, a mosquito-driven bug that has killed at least 32 people in Pennsylvania since arriving in the state in 2000, state health records show.
Yet the widespread Culex mosquitoes that spread West Nile may not be able to distribute Zika, which has circulated through Aedes mosquitoes in the epidemic abroad. At least 24 people in Pennsylvania have picked up Zika through travel to outbreak-affected countries, according to the state Department of Health.
“The most important thing people can do to protect against bites [in Pennsylvania] is to eliminate breeding grounds, such as areas with standing water,” said Loren K. Robinson, a state deputy secretary for health promotion and disease prevention.
Property owners may want to try an insecticide spray service if they have persistent excess moisture on their grounds, although drying out could be as simple as flipping over a flower pot, she said. Some entomology experts called spraying excessive, arguing it could kill beneficial insects, too. Dr. Hacker said it’s important to check on any risk factors since some pesticides can lead to side effects.
At Penn State University, disease researcher Jason Rasgon said Pennsylvanians should control mosquitoes to tame the West Nile threat, “even without the whole Zika issue.” He doubts that Pennsylvania’s Culex mosquitoes could transmit Zika, he said.
“I honestly don’t know what we’re going to find,” said Mr. Rasgon, an associate professor who is studying whether Culex mosquitoes could be a Zika vector. “If they don’t transmit, that’s great. I’ll sleep a little better at night.”
The state Department of Environmental Protection is monitoring Pennsylvania for two Aedes species known to be capable of transmitting the disease — the yellow fever and Asian tiger mosquitoes, which appear relatively infrequently this far north. Last week, five traps in Pittsburgh had collected an average of 12 Asian tiger mosquitoes each, according to the DEP.
Such mosquitoes in southern U.S. states could begin carrying Zika as early as this summer, according to disease researchers. The World Health Organization has estimated that the virus may reach 4 million people across the Americas by early 2017. Although most people recover within about a week from any symptoms — such as a fever, rash and joint aches — infected pregnant women face an elevated risk of birth defects.
At S.C. Johnson, the Racine, Wis.-based maker of Raid and OFF! products, spokesman Jeff McCollum would not speculate whether a surge in sales was tied to Zika worries. U.S. demand for the company’s personal repellent products climbed about 50 percent in February and March before dipping to more normal levels by May.
“We’re still preparing for a mosquito season of increased demand,” Mr. McCollum wrote in an email.
Back at the local Mosquito Joe operation, owner Joanna Patterson said she isn’t looking to capitalize on Zika fears — just to help.
“We can’t do anything about the virus,” Ms. Patterson said, “but we can combat mosquitoes.”
Adam Smeltz: asmeltz@post-gazette.com, 412-263-2625 or on Twitter @asmeltz.
First Published: June 28, 2016, 4:00 a.m.