This month the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Zika Virus a global public health issue. While there is growing concern over the mosquito-borne disease possibly linked to birth defects, how can companies protect employees who plan business travel to affected countries?
The spread of the virus has prompted the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to warn women who are planning to get pregnant against travel to countries in the Americas, Oceania/Pacific Islands and Africa.
How is the Zika Virus transmitted?
According to the CDC, the Zika Virus is transmitted to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. In rare cases, the disease has also been transmitted through blood transfusions and sexual contact. There is no vaccine for the Zika Virus. About one in five people who are infected with the virus become ill. The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain or conjunctivitis, as well as muscle pain and headache. The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week after being bitten by an infected mosquito. People usually don’t get sick enough to go to the hospital, and they very rarely die of Zika, according to the CDC. It’s for this reason that many people don’t realize they may have been infected by the virus.
Protecting Employees from the Zika Virus
The Zika Virus is considered the greatest threat to pregnant women, according to the CDC because it has the possibility of causing microcephaly in newborns – a condition of an abnormally small head. However, employers cannot keep pregnant women or those of childbearing age from traveling even in a well-intentioned effort to protect them from exposure to the disease because it can create gender discrimination issues. The same is equally discriminatory for men who have partners that are pregnant or who plan to become pregnant.
Employers should then be required to educate all employees whose job assignments take them to areas that have been identified as “at-risk” by the CDC on Zika virus’s symptoms, mode of transmission and how to avoid mosquito bites and the risk of infection.
Zika Virus Prevention Tips for Employees
Employers should communicate to employees the steps to take to avoid mosquito bites that are outlined by the CDC. Some of the guidelines to follow when travelling to countries where Zika is present include:
- Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants.
- Stay in places with air conditioning or that use window and door screens to keep mosquitoes outside.
- Sleep under a mosquito bed net if you are overseas or outside and are not able to protect yourself from mosquito bites.
- Use Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered insect repellents. When used as directed, EPA-registered insect repellents are proven safe and effective, even for pregnant and breast-feeding women.
- Reapply insect repellent as directed.
- Do not spray repellent on the skin under clothing.
Additional steps to prevent the spread of the Zika virus can also be found at the CDC site.
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