US urges aerial spraying amid jump in Puerto Rico Zika cases

As many as 50 pregnant women in Puerto Rico are becoming infected with Zika every day, top US health officials have said as they urged the US territory to strongly consider aerial spraying to prevent further spread of the mosquito-borne virus.

The warning came as Puerto Rico debates whether to fumigate with the insecticide Naled, a proposal that has sparked protests in the US territory over concerns about its impact on human health and wildlife.

Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told The Associated Press yesterday that aerial spraying is the island's best defense to fight a virus that can cause microcephaly, a rare defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and brain damage.

He said the island lacks an integrated mosquito control program.

"If any part of the continental US had the kind of spread of Zika that Puerto Rico has now, they would have sprayed months ago," he said.

"This is more a question of neglect than anything else. ... If we wait until children with microcephaly are born, it will be too late. That's the problem."

Puerto Rico government officials are still debating the issue, with legislators holding public hearings amid a growing number of protests.

Some health officials have warned of the dangers of Naled, with Puerto Rico's health secretary saying pregnant women and asthmatics should remain indoors if it is sprayed. Puerto Rico has one of the highest asthma rates in the world.

Ultimately, it is up to Puerto Rico's governor to decide whether to implement aerial spraying, which would be run and paid for by the US government.

In May, Puerto Rico reported the first microcephaly case acquired on US soil. It involved a fetus that a woman turned over to US health officials who found it tested positive for Zika.

A total of 339 pregnant women in Puerto Rico have been diagnosed with Zika, and Frieden said it is only a matter of time before one of them gives birth to a child with microcephaly.

Overall, Puerto Rico has reported nearly 2,400 Zika cases, 44 hospitalizations and one death.