Concern in Houston heightened for Zika causing miscarriages

HOUSTON – The Zika virus is here in the Houston area with still seven people confirmed to have, or had, the illness.

One local company, Mosquito Joe, said its increase in business is a reflection of the public's concern.

“We had our official open last week just because the phones been going off the hook: Facebook, emails, website requests. I think all of it's just driven from the concerns with Zika,” said Darryl Nevins, owner of the NE Houston Mosquito Joe.

There's no surprise for the concern, with news today that two American women who contracted Zika while traveling out of the country miscarried.

That's been reportedly happening in Brazil but federal health officials have not known of miscarriages in American travelers and they're concerned this is the beginning of a large problem.

“We think there is a real possibility that at some point in the coming months and we can't predict with certainty when,” Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Tom Frieden said, “But at some point we may well see tens or hundreds of thousands of Zika infections in Puerto Rico."

Thursday, researchers in Slovenia say they proved the link between the Zika virus and the birth defect microcephaly.

Their findings are considered exceptionally important as the link had been suspected but not confirmed.

Here in Houston, there have not been any mosquito-transmitted infections of the virus, which is important to keep the disease at bay.

“We’re looking at our fleet and saying we [Mosquito Joe] probably want to expand pretty quickly this spring,” Nevins said.

Brazil's health minister is pushing for a vaccine to be ready for clinical trials in a year.

They have been working closely with the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston to get that into circulation as soon as possible.