Zika fight continues with insecticide, reproductive research grants

The fight against Zika continued to pick up steam this week after reports of 15 local transmissions in Miami.

Starting August 4, CDC officials began to spray a one-square mile area of the city with insecticide in an effort to kill existing mosquitos that could be carrying the disease and to stop any further transmission. And according to Gov. Rick Scott, it seems to be working, the New York Times reported. The transmission area hasn’t increased, though more infections are possible as the mosquito count comes down.

The officials are spraying an insecticide called Naled, which is more powerful than traditionally sprayed insecticides. And the mosquito species (which one CDC official told the Times is “just very hard to get rid of”) that spreads Zika has not yet developed an immunity to it.

Also one step closer to its ultimate Zika-fighting goal are efforts to develop a vaccine against the virus. Animal vaccine studies at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston have shown at least one-month immunity in 16 different animals with three different forms of the vaccine, the Guardian reported.

The NIH announced phase 1 trials for a different vaccine earlier this week, while some pharmaceutical companies work to develop their own.

And several U.S. gynecology organizations announced commitments to contribute funding to Zika research Aug. 5, given the disease’s disproportionate negative impact on pregnant women. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Reproductive Endocrinology and Fertility promised to fund $10,000 to $50,000 one-time grants.

According to a statement by the ASRM, the grants will be awarded to research organizations looking for new ways to prevent, diagnose or treat Zika transmission, its adverse effects on pregnant women and their children and to organizations studying ways to improve fertility treatments while minimizing the threat of Zika.