Connecticut’s mosquito testing program will be on the alert for a species of the insect that could carry the Zika virus, the infection spreading rapidly in South and Central America and the Caribbean and suspected of causing a cluster of cases of birth defects in some of those countries.

“The risk in Connecticut is low, but we will be monitoring for that species,” Theodore Andreadis, director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, which runs the mosquito testing program, said Monday. The testing program runs from June through October, trapping and testing mosquitos from more than 70 sites statewide.

Representatives of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s office, the agricultural experiment station, the state Department of Public Health and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection — which runs mosquito control programs — met Monday to develop a coordinated response to the virus, Andreadis said. The governor’s office is expected to issue a statement later this week outlining planned actions. On Jan. 28, the state health department advised pregnant women to postpone traveling to areas with widespread Zika virus.

The meeting of state agencies Monday came the same day President Obama announced that he will ask Congress for $1.8 billion in emergency funding to combat the virus through mosquito control programs, vaccine research, education and improving health care for low-income pregnant women.

The proposal includes $355 million in foreign aid to the countries where the Zika virus is spreading most rapidly. The World Health Organization declared an international public health emergency last week, warning that the mosquito-borne virus is strongly suspected as the cause of cases of microcephaly, a neurological disorder that afflicts the babies of pregnant women with the virus.

Andreadis said the main species of mosquito that has been spreading the virus in South and Central America and the Caribbean, aedes aegypti, is not found in Connecticut, but is found in southern and Gulf Coast states. But a second species, aedes albopictus or Asian tiger mosquito, has been found in coastal towns in Fairfield County in recent years, and has been known to carry the virus in Zika outbreaks in other parts of the world, he said.

“We first detected it in Connecticut in 2006,” he said. “It has been expanding its range. This mosquito could pick up the virus and become an efficient vector.”

While the chance of being bitten by an infected mosquito in Connecticut is very low, there is a strong possibility that residents who travel to one of the countries where the virus is prevalent could bring the illness back to the state. The virus is not highly contagious but can be spread through intimate sexual contact and in saliva.

Dr. Adam Borgida, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology and Hartford Hospital and director of women’s health for Hartford HealthCare, said that pregnant women are being advised to avoid visiting these countries and that if they must travel there to take precautions such as using insect repellent with DEET, wearing long sleeves and long pants and staying away from waterways during the daytime when the aedes aegypti mosquito is most active. The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich is part of the Hartford HealthCare network.

Many pregnant women who have traveled to these countries recently are contacting their obstetricians about the outbreak, he said.

“They’re all calling with questions about whether they could have been exposed,” he said. “Some patients are freaking out.”

In newly updated recommendations, the Centers for Disease Control is advising pregnant women who have traveled to one of the countries where Zika virus is prevalent and develop a fever, rash, joint pain or red eyes within two weeks of returning home to contact their doctor.

About 80 percent of people exposed to the virus, however, do not have symptoms, Borgida said.

There is no treatment for the virus, which in most cases causes a mild illness of flu-like symptoms including fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes. It has been linked to cases of a post-infection auto-immune illness, Guillain-Barré syndrome, however.

Rhonda Susman, director of infection control at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London, said the obstetricians, neonatologists and pediatricians in L+M’s network have all been alerted to watch for cases of the virus.

“Whenever a patient goes to their obstetrician, she’s asked about her travel history,” Susman said. “We need to know where you’ve been. This will be on everyone’s radar this summer.”

In addition to taking steps to prevent mosquito bites, she also advised that pregnant women use condoms or abstain from sexual activity with anyone who has recently returned from one of the countries where Zika virus is spreading.

The virus can be transmitted in semen within two weeks after infection, according to Dr. Joseph Garner, chief of medicine at the Hospital of Central Connecticut, also part of the Hartford HealthCare network.

He emphasized that there is still a lot to be learned about the virus. Throughout the Hartford HealthCare network, emergency department staffs have been asked to be alert for cases of Zika virus, he said.

One of the current challenges, he said, is that there is no readily available test that can be given to pregnant women to screen for the virus.

“You can’t just walk into your obstetrician and say you want to be tested,” he said.

Borgida said the state may, however, soon begin offering to test blood samples from pregnant women who have traveled to countries experiencing the outbreak who also have virus symptoms. Health care providers would collect the sample and send it to the state health department, which in turn would send it to the CDC.

j.benson@theday.com

Twitter: @BensonJudy

Information from wire service articles was included in this story.