AUSTIN — Texas is no longer requiring pregnant women on Medicaid to get a prescription before receiving free mosquito repellent amid worries over Zika.

State health officials announced Monday they're dropping the need for expecting mothers and women between the ages of 10 and 45 to first call or visit a doctor before receiving up to two cans of repellent a month through October.

More than 90 people in Texas are reported to have been infected with Zika. The virus has been linked to fetal deaths and severe birth defects in the children of women infected during pregnancy.

Health and Human Services Commissioner Charles Smith said Texas is the first state to issue a standing order for mosquito repellent prescriptions. Eligible women on Medicaid can pick up the repellent at their pharmacist.

Officials at all levels have spent months urging residents to wear insect repellent regularly, particularly those who travel to countries where Zika is widespread.

'Insect repellent has a greater potential as a tool, a weapon, against Zika than practically anything else we can do,' said Dr. John Hellerstedt, director of the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The federal agency overseeing Medicaid issued a bulletin two months ago advising states that they could provide insect repellent through the program, which is funded jointly by the federal government and states. Of the other Gulf Coast states, Florida and Mississippi provide mosquito repellent through Medicaid and Louisiana plans to distribute repellent only if there are local transmissions of Zika in the state.

The state health department expanded its capacity to test for Zika both in people with symptoms and in those who believe they may have been infected previously. The department estimates it can run up to 32 serology tests a week, intended for people who no longer have symptoms.