By Jeffrey Dastin
(Reuters) - Some 38 percent of U.S. multinationals, universities and non-profits surveyed by an arm of the State Department are allowing female employees to defer travel or leave countries where the Zika virus has been reported.
A fifth of the 321 respondents said they were giving male employees similar options, a sign of how employers' travel policies are diverging as they react to the mosquito-borne virus and uncertainty about the way it is transmitted.
Scientists are investigating a potential link between Zika infections of pregnant women and more than 4,000 suspected cases in Brazil of microcephaly, a condition marked by abnormally small head size that can result in developmental problems.
The State Department's Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), which has a membership of more than 3,500 U.S. companies and institutions that do business abroad, surveyed its members and reported the results on Feb. 5.
Boeing Co, Microsoft Corp, Walt Disney Co and others assist OSAC, according to its website.
The largest share of the survey's respondents, none of whom were identified, were only recommending ways employees can avoid mosquito bites or inform themselves via the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the World Health Organization (WHO).
Multinational companies contacted separately by Reuters showed a similar split over how to respond to the virus's rapid spread in Latin America and the Caribbean.
While airlines and cruise ship operators have yet to report declines in bookings because of the disease, that may be in store if the virus lingers, Credit Suisse analyst Julie Yates said in a research note on Thursday.
FASTER THAN EBOLA
In line with CDC guidance, Wal Mart Stores Inc, American Express Co and snack-maker Mondelez International Inc have told workers who are pregnant or considering pregnancy to consult with health professionals before visiting any of the 26 countries and territories where Zika is active. The WHO declared an international emergency for Zika on Feb. 1, but much remains unknown about the virus.
Chevron Corp, which has significant operations in Brazil and Venezuela, is among companies with a more expansive policy that allows any concerned employee to opt out of travel, spokesman Kurt Glaubitz said.
By contrast, Ford Motor Co, General Motors Co and security products company Allegion PLC have told employees about precautions for travel but they have not publicly disclosed policy changes for women of child-bearing age.
U.S. companies have reacted faster than during past epidemics, such as the two-year-long outbreak of Ebola in West Africa that began in December 2013, because Zika is spreading in their backyard, said Christopher Pardee, manager of health intelligence at travel risk consultancy iJET.
Some 41 percent of Americans aware of the disease have said they are less likely to take a trip to affected regions, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found a week ago.
Factbox: Three ways to combat Zika, from mosquito-eating fish to fogging
By Anastasia Moloney
BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The mosquito-borne Zika virus, 'strongly suspected' of links to birth defects in babies in Brazil, has spread to more than 30 countries in the Americas.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak an international health emergency on Feb. 1.
At least 12 groups are working to develop a Zika vaccine but the WHO says licensed products could take "a few years" to reach the market.
Health authorities are trying to eliminate the places where mosquitoes lay their eggs in water, such as buckets, flower pots and tyres.
Some countries have turned to other methods to prevent the spread of Zika.
* MOSQUITO-EATING FISH
In El Salvador, the Sambo fish is being hailed as one weapon against the Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries the Zika, dengue and chikungunya viruses.
Sambo fish eat the mosquitoes' larvae in water.
Health workers and volunteers nationwide are distributing Sambo fish which are placed in water tanks and open containers used to store water in schools, restaurants and homes.
"These have been successful ... the central effort should be to mobilize the whole society against the Zika-carrying mosquito," Eduardo Espinoza, El Salvador's vice minister of health, recently wrote in a letter to the New York Times.
* FOGGING
Pesticide spraying is being stepped up across Latin America, particularly in Brazil and Colombia that have the highest number of reported Zika cases.
Trucks are spraying city streets, shopping malls and cemeteries with pesticide fog to kill adult mosquitoes.
Health experts warn fogging may not kill mosquito larvae in hard-to-reach places such as under beds and in closets unless residents open their windows to let in the pesticide mist.
In Brazil, the government has mounted a door-to-door campaign and authorised public health officials to enter properties by force to search for breeding spots and use indoor foggers, pesticides that stick to walls.
* GENETICALLY MODIFIED MOSQUITOES
In Piracicaba city in Brazil's Sao Paulo state, genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes have been released in mosquito-infested areas, a new weapon against Zika.
When genetically modified male mosquitoes mate with females of the same species, their offspring die at the larva stage.
This strain was developed by Oxitec, the UK subsidiary of U.S. synthetic biology company Intrexon.
Oxitec has said it released 25 million of its OX513A mosquitoes in a neighbourhood of Piracicaba between April and November and reduced the number of wild larvae of the Aedes mosquito there by 82 percent.
It has said it will start a new factory in Piracicaba to rear more genetically modified mosquitoes that will "have capacity to protect over 300,000 people."
Health authorities in Panama are also considering releasing millions of GM mosquitoes to stem the spread of the Zika virus.
"Fogging followed by the controlled release of genetically modified mosquitoes may be worth considering for halting the spread of Zika," the WHO said this week.
