SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – Missouri State University researchers who are trapping mosquitoes across the state haven’t found any evidence of the Zika virus.
The research team is led by associate professor David Claborn. He says trapping mosquitoes might provide an early warning if the virus arrives in Missouri. The yellow fever mosquito, the primary carrier of the virus, has existed in Missouri before and researchers are trying to determine if it is still in the state.
The Springfield News-Leader reports (http://sgfnow.co/2aTHxEe ) the researchers hadn’t found any yellow fever mosquitoes seven weeks after the study began. Claborn says that at this time, there is no reason to believe the state’s mosquito population is carrying the virus.
Claborn says traps have caught thousands of Asian tiger mosquitoes but none were infected with Zika.
