Entomologists at Iowa State University are expanding their efforts to track mosquitoes this summer to include the species carries the Zika virus. Assistant professor of entomology Ryan Smith, says that doesn’t mean Zika virus poses a threat in Iowa.
Smith says they’ve been focused for 15 years on the mosquito that carries the West Nile Virus, and wants to be sure the Zika carrier isn’t here.
Iowa State records show only 12 specimens of the Aedes mosquito that could carry Zika have turned up in the state over the last 16 years. By comparison, they catch 100-thousand of the more common “pest” mosquitoes in a single year.
