Health Message - Zika English

MESSAGE CONCEPTS
OF VECTOR CONTROL ACTIVITIES
AND PERSONAL PROTECTIVE BEHAVIORS
For use in interviews and focus group discussions with
Pregnant women and Community Leaders In Puerto Rico

Outdoor Residual Spraying (ORS)
Specially trained professionals
spray insecticide outside of
the home in and on the places
that mosquitoes like to rest –
usually dark and wet places.
Examples of places are around
doorways, by the eaves of the
roof, and behind potted plants
and bushes. The spraying can be
done anytime during the day and
usually will kill mosquitoes for
several weeks.

Outdoor residual spraying kills adult mosquitoes.

Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS)
Specially trained professionals
spray insecticide inside of the
home in and on the places that
mosquitoes like to rest – usually
dark and moist places. Examples
of places are under tables,
behind furniture, under bed and
cabinets with sinks, and by dirty
laundry. The spraying can be
done anytime during the day and
usually will kill mosquitoes for
about three months. IRS is most
effective when most houses in a
neighborhood have their homes
sprayed.

Indoor residual spraying kills adult mosquitoes. Scientific studies show that IRS is the
most effective way to stop the spread of diseases carried by the mosquito that gives
people dengue, chikungunya, and Zika.

Spraying Indoors with Over-the-Counter Bug Spray
Residents of a home or
apartment can buy insecticides
at a grocery or hardware store.
They are usually aerosol spray
cans that can be used to spray
places inside the home where
mosquitoes like to rest – usually
dark and wet places. The
spray is intended to kill adult
mosquitoes.

Using bug spray kills adult mosquitoes.

Adding Larvicides to Standing Water
Insecticides can be added to
containers that have standing
water to kill larvae. Examples of
places that often have standing
water are
• Fountains
• Trays under potted plants
• Buckets
• Household water storage
container
If you can still see the larvicide,
it’s likely that it is still working.
Mosquito “dunks” can be bought
at grocery or hardware stores
and dropped in the standing
water. Pest control professionals
can put temephos granules in
standing water.

Larvicides kill mosquito larvae so that they cannot become adult mosquitoes, which
means fewer biting and disease-spreading mosquitoes.

Wearing Repellents on Bare Skin not Covered by Clothes
Repellents make people
“invisible” to mosquitoes. If
mosquitoes can’t find you, they
can’t bite you.
People wear repellents to
keep from getting bitten by
mosquitoes. Repellents are
designed to be used on bare
skin, especially skin that is not
covered by clothing.
Repellents come in many forms:
• Aerosol sprays deter
• Lotions
• Creams
• Solid (sticks)
• Pump sprays
• Liquids
• Towelettes or wipes
CDC recommends using an EPAregistered insect repellent. Safe
and effective repellents contain
ingredients such as oil of lemoneucalyptus, picaridin, IR3535,
para-methane-diol, and DEET.

Repellents do not kill mosquitoes but they will help keep them them from biting people.

Removing Standing Water where Mosquitoes Grow
From Eggs To Larvae To Pupae To Adults
Removing water can keep
mosquitoes from successfully
reproducing. Since water
is needed for mosquitoes
to develop, removing water
around the home leads to fewer
mosquitoes and less chance
of disease.

Community-Wide Clean Up Campaigns
Community-wide efforts to pick
up trash and tires can help get
rid of places where mosquitoes
grow from eggs to larvae to
pupae to adults.
Discarded tires are the perfect
place for many generations of
mosquitoes to grow in—they are
dark and wet.

Wearing Clothing that Covers Bare Skin
Clothing is a barrier between
mosquitoes and the bare skin of
people they want to bite. Long
sleeved shirts, pants, and socks
cover a majority of the skin and
makes it harder for mosquitoes
to bite.

Sleeping Under a Bed Net
A bed net is a barrier between
mosquitoes and the people they
want to bite. The mosquitoes
that spread the Zika virus bite
during daylight hours, especially
at dawn and dusk. Bed nets can
protect you from being bitten
while you sleep.

Placing or Replacing Screen Windows and Doors
Screen windows and doors help
to keep mosquitoes outside of
your home. Mosquitoes can get
inside if there are rips or tears
in screens, so it is important to
repair screens (close any holes).

Scientific studies show that houses with screens are less likely to have mosquitoes in
them, especially the kind of mosquitoes that give people Zika virus.

Using Condoms Every Time You Have Sex
Or Stop Having Sex During Pregnancy
Because Zika virus has been
found in the semen of men who
have had an infection
AND
because most men do not know
if they are infected
AND
because there isn’t a test that is
widely available to detect Zika
virus in semen
Couples should either use
condoms the right way every
time they have vaginal, anal,
and oral (mouth to penis) sex
OR
Not have sex during
pregnancy.

Using a condom will keep the virus in the man’s semen from infecting a woman.

Aerial Spraying (Spraying From An Airplane)
A specially equipped airplane
sprays insecticides in
small (invisible to the eye)
droplet aerosols that cover
a neighborhood to kill adult
mosquitoes. The spraying
usually occurs when the
mosquitoes are most active. The
insecticide used is a chemical
that kills mosquitoes but does
not hurt people, pets, or plants.

Aerial spraying can kill adult mosquitoes and larvae across many communities. Everyone
in a community benefits from fewer mosquitoes, mosquito bites, and diseases.