Florida Governor Rick Scott declared a health emergency in four counties Wednesday after at least nine cases of Zika were detected in the state.
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All of them have a history of recent travel to an area with a Zika outbreak and have symptoms consistent with the disease, said Dr. Benjamin Schwartz, deputy chief for Acute Communicable Disease Control at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
“A person gets infected with Zika virus in Brazil, comes up to the United States, flies into Florida”, LaPook said.
How do we know these cases weren’t caused by a rogue mosquito carried back in luggage? .
Miami-Dade in south Florida, Hillsborough in Tampa Bay, Lee County in southwest Florida and Santa Rosa County in Florida Panhandle have all been affected under the executive order. Since past year, the virus has exploded in Brazil and is believed to be the cause of birth defects in hundreds of newborns in that nation. FLORIDA GOV. DECLARES ZIKA EMERGENCYGov. “During the first week or so of infection, Zika virus can be passed from an infected person to another mosquito through mosquito bites”. The virus, first identified in 1947 in Uganda, is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
“Now that we know Zika virus can be transmitted through sex, this increases our awareness campaign in educating the public about protecting themselves and others”, DCHHS director Zachary Thompson said in a statement.
The order specifies that special attention for mosquito sprays will be in residential areas.
To date, 31 cases of the Zika virus have been confirmed in the United States across 12 states.
World Health Organization spokesman Gregory Hartl has reiterated that individuals can greatly reduce their exposure to mosquitoes and the risk of contracting Zika with a few simple precautions.
The main concern with the Zika virus is its association with microcephaly in babies whose mothers became infected while pregnant, though the link has yet to be scientifically proven. The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting several days to a week.
“Unless you’re planning on traveling to a place where this virus is circulating, there’s not any reason to be concerned about it”, she said.
– A task force has been set up in Dallas County, now that there are two confirmed cases of the Zika virus in the county.
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The Pennsylvania Health Department’s website says there are eight valid tests underway for the Zika Virus: zero positive, 1 negative and 7 are pending.
