Florida health officials said on Tuesday they are investigating a case of Zika virus infection that does not appear to have stemmed from travel to another region with an outbreak.
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The FDOH, which is working with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, haven’t said what part of the county the potential case is in.
To date, a total of 797 pregnant women in the territory have been tested for Zika, with nine cases being “presumptive positive”, which means those samples will require further testing for a confirmation.
Most people infected with Zika have no symptoms or only mild ones.
“Zika prevention kits and repellent will be available for pickup. and distributed in the area under investigation”, the health department said in a statement.
The area under investigation has already had mosquito control, the health department said, but did not say what that entailed.
“I want to see that money come from the federal government to help our state and local communities eradicate mosquitoes, help scientists develop a vaccine and do a better job of helping those children born with microcephaly”, Rubio said.
Zika can be transmitted by mosquitoes and, less commonly, through sex.
“So, in this particular case, it leads the option open that perhaps this Zika virus was spread by a mosquito”, she said.
It is primarily of concern to women who are pregnant or want to become pregnant, because the virus carries the risk of causing irreversible brain defects in the fetus. An elderly man in Puerto Rico died last spring and Utah reported the death of an elderly patient with Zika last week.
The virus was found in Miami-Dade County and right now there’s an investigation into how it was transmitted.
The first case of the virus in Florida was discovered in June, involving a mother who traveled to Haiti. Among them, 346 are or have been pregnant women.
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Zika is spread through the bite of an infected mosquito.
