Outdoor Survival Expert Educates Schools and Communities on Best Mosquito Prevention Strategies

The World Health Organization has declared the Zika virus an international public health emergency. It has already affected 24 countries in Africa, Oceana, and North, Central and South America. The U.S. government recently declared a public health emergency in Puerto Rico as a result of a Zika epidemic. The Florida Department of Health has identified key areas in Miami where Zika is being spread by mosquitoes. So how worried should local residents be and what precautions should they take to stay protected? Outdoor survival expert, Brian Brawdy, is headed to Miami to explain just what schools and local communities need to know in order to stay protected from mosquitoes. In his presentations, Brawdy makes a point of recommending repellent clothing treated with permethrin.

Brawdy will be on location throughout Miami Dade County conducting educational seminars via broadcast radio and television segments and on-site from schools and retail store locations such as ACE Hardware and West Marine, to help explain best practices for personal protection from mosquitoes. Local retailers are getting inundated with questions from concerned consumers seeking more information and effective product recommendations. West Marine has added an advice and how-to section to their site about insect repellent clothing, while ACE Hardware located right inside the Zika virus outbreak zones, has added additional products and awareness information to their assortment. Schools in the area are grappling with what to teach parents about protection for their children.

“It is our goal to have the best selection of products and up to date information to combat the Zika virus for our neighbors,” says Ilana Shor ACE Hardware.  “We always suggest a multi-pronged approach that includes products for lawn and standing water, insect repellent sprays, candles, incense and our newly added products from Insect Shield.”

Brawdy recommends wearing permethrin treated clothing such as ExOfficio’s Bugsaway with Insect Shield, which provides protection from mosquito bites that lasts through 70 washings and always using a topical repellent on exposed skin. Insect Shield clothing is EPA-registered and appropriate for use by the entire family. For concerned parents with infants, Insect Shield rompers are sold in the Miami area via the KidzStuff collection created by the Miami Children’s Hospital.

Internationally known emergency preparedness expert, Brian Brawdy, regularly survives and thrives in the extremes. Whether hiking in Death Valley at 140 degrees, or tracking the elusive wolves of Yellowstone at 45 degrees below zero, buried in a simulated avalanche in the mountains of Colorado, or traversing the Florida Everglades mid-July when the "bite-rate" exceeds 400 per minute, Brawdy knows first-hand what it takes to be prepared and how to protect yourself from the dangers of nature.