Mosquito-Borne Diseases at Work: Protecting Outdoor Workers

Key points

• Mosquito-borne diseases spread through the bites of infected mosquitoes.
• Workers are at risk wherever there are mosquitoes at the worksite.
• Reduce or eliminate exposure.

The diseases

Diseases mosquitoes spread to people include chikungunya, dengue, eastern equine encephalitis, Japanese encephalitis, La Crosse encephalitis, malaria, St. Louis encephalitis, West Nile virus, yellow fever and Zika.

Not everyone bitten by an infected mosquito gets sick. Some have a mild, short illness; rarely, illness is severe or long-lasting, and severe cases can be fatal.

Who's at risk

Risk depends on where people work, the season and the time of day: different mosquito species live in different places, bite at different times and carry different diseases.

• outdoor workers;
• business travelers to areas with mosquito-borne diseases;
• laboratory workers exposed to infected blood or body fluids.

What employers should do

Get rid of standing water, where some mosquitoes lay eggs:

• remove, turn over, cover or store equipment;
• clear debris from ditches;
• fill ruts and other low spots;
• remove tires, buckets, bottles and barrels;
• drill drain holes in containers that hold water.

Also:

• keep screened doors and windows closed when possible;
• train workers on the risk and prevention of bites, the symptoms of mosquito-borne disease, and safe use of repellents;
• provide clothing covering hands, arms and legs, and consider hats with mosquito netting for the face and neck;
• provide EPA-registered repellent with DEET, picaridin (KBR 3023, or icaridin outside the US), IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE), para-menthane-diol (PMD) or 2-undecanone;
• provide permethrin for clothing and gear.

What workers should do

• Find the right repellent with EPA's search tool. Using sunscreen too? Put sunscreen on first, repellent second.
• Treat clothing and gear with permethrin.
• Cover up, and wear a netted hat.
• Remove anything that holds standing water.
• Report symptoms to your supervisor and get medical care.

More: CDC's Preventing Mosquito Bites and protection against mosquitoes, ticks and other arthropods; NIOSH's fast facts on ticks and mosquitoes and West Nile brochures for outdoor workers and laboratory, field and clinical workers; EPA's mosquito control pages.

Sources

Based on "Mosquito-Borne Diseases in Workers," National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain.