Two cases of the mosquito-borne Zika virus have been reported in Mississippi after residents from Madison County and Noxubee County traveled to Haiti.
Officials at OCH Regional Medical Center offered suggestions on lowering the possibility of getting infected and travel tips to tropical regions where the virus is most common.
OCH Infection Control Director Savannah Brown said residents should use insect repellent, wear light colored clothing, keep limbs covered, stay in air conditioned areas, do not have standing water near a home, screen all windows and use mosquito netting while walking small children in strollers.
"The type of mosquito that carries it, we have in this area," Brown said. "It's the Aedes mosquito. Although we haven't seen any cases here and we hope not to have any that originate in Mississippi."
Zika is most prevalent in the Caribbean, Central and South America. Cases have been reported in parts of Africa, Southeast Asia and some Pacific islands.
Zika may cause birth defects if contracted during pregnancy. The infection can cause mild illness with symptoms ranging from fever and joint pain to a rash or conjunctivitis that could last sever days to a week. Eighty percent of those infected show no symptoms, MSDH said.
There is no known vaccine or treatment for the virus.
Some cases of viral transmission were sexually transmitted. As a precaution, health officials urge safe sex practices or abstaining from sex if a person has traveled to the affected areas and is experiencing symptoms.
"It's more rare, but it can be sexually transmitted," Brown said.
Pregnant women have been advised to avoid traveling to outbreak regions after researchers speculated the virus could cause devastating birth defects following a string of children being born with smaller, underdeveloped skulls.
Brown urged those traveling on mission trips to impacted areas to take extreme precaution after returning to the U.S.
"We have the potential to have an issue but for the people who travel and come back, it will prevent it from getting passed on," Brown said.
CDC officials said cases of the virus could originate in the U.S., but due to different living conditions, population density variances and different climates, an outbreak would differ in scope from tropical areas dealing with the disease.
"There are more homes here with air conditioning and screened in windows," Brown said. "The CDC hopes it's not something that becomes a problem here."