In this Travel report, Valarie D’Elia looks at the precautions you should take if you are traveling anywhere near the Zika virus zone.
According to a recent poll by marketing firm Fluent, LLC, nearly half of all Americans say they would avoid planning or even cancel their trips to areas affected by the Zika virus.
The mosquito borne virus, which can also be sexually transmitted, is most threatening to pregnant women since it is linked to brain abnormalities in unborn babies. It took a turn from its Asian and African roots in May of 2015 to spread to Latin America and the Caribbean. The fear is that it is on the move.
"Since this has come to the Western hemisphere, who is going to say it is going to stop at the Mason Dixon line?” internal medicine specialist Dr. Kathleen Major says. “It gets pretty warm up north in some places and if you have free standing fresh water that is a habitat for mosquito proliferation."
The virus manifests itself with typical flu symptoms. Recommended protection for travelers includes wearing long sleeve clothing during daylight hours when the mosquito is most active.
"If they are in a tropical area where they want to wear sunblock, they have to put their sunblock on first and then their repellent, preferably DEET, which is one of the known, and it is safe in children and pregnant women and breast feeding moms,” Major says.
Pregnant or not, if you want to reconsider your travel plans to an official CDC Zika infected area, ask your airline, cruise line or hotel about their Zika policy. Many airlines are offering flat out refunds as well as options to reschedule or make changes to another destination without a fee. As for travel insurance, consider a “cancel for any reason” policy.