Health officials have confirmed two cases of Zika in Davidson County from individuals who recently traveled back from Honduras, but that number is likely to go up.
"The possibility of someone coming from Central America, South America or any area where Zika is being transmitted by mosquitoes is certainly a possibility," Brian Todd with the Metro Public Health Department said.
Health officials quickly work to educate those people and put a barrier between them and other insects.
"To keep that individual and local mosquitoes apart, so the person will spend most of their times indoors until they recover and use insect repellant," Vanderbilt University's Dr. William Schaffner said.
However, quarantining affected individuals isn't necessarily what happens. Men who contract the virus are asked to use protection or abstain from sexual intercourse for up to six months. Otherwise education and bite prevention is key.
"Right now no one, as far as I know in the U.S., is trapping and testing mosquitoes for Zika," said Todd. "I think for Tennessee anyway, it's the fact that we don't have other human cases."
While officials are not testing for Zika they are testing for another mosquito borne illness already in the mid-state, the West Nile virus. "We've found three batches so far this year," Todd said.
To be safe, experts advice everyone to protect themselves from any mosquito borne illness with bug repellant when going outside.
