Zika is a virus usually spread through bites from two types of Aedes mosquitoes, but it can spread from infected men to their partners through sexual contact.
Advertisement
The department says that in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.), it has provided 227 presentations throughout the territory, 18 in St. John, 78 in St. Thomas and 131 in St. Croix.
Miami-Dade County health department officials hope to have another update on the investigation by Friday or Monday.
The Florida Department of Health is considering all known routes of transmission, including the possibility that it could be travel related, spokeswoman Mara Gambineri said. A handful of cases were the result of sexual transmission. The biggest worry is that someone infected by the Zika virus, perhaps due to a travel-related event, could be bitten by a local mosquito, infecting the mosquito.
As of mid-July, there have been 1,306 cases of Zika in the continental United States, almost all involving people who had traveled to areas in Latin America and the Caribbean basin that are affected by the current outbreak.
Tom Frieden, CDC Director, said that since the caregiver did not travel to an affected area, it is possible that the person might get the virus from the mosquito – accidentally brought in the suitcase, NBC reported.
Pregnant women and their children are considered to be at greatest risk from the disease.
“After a careful analysis of the situation, World Health Organization has concluded that there’s a low risk of people catching or spreading Zika during the Olympics”, Perea said on Tuesday.
Zika prevention kits and mosquito repellent – strongly recommended for women who are pregnant or planning to be pregnant – are being distributed in the area and can be picked up at the health department as well.
Crews in Utah, meanwhile, are setting traps in old tires and junkyards and dumping mosquito-eating fish into ponds and abandoned pools after a man who cared for his dying father was infected with Zika as well. “That’s under investigation”, Satish Pillai, deputy incident manager with the CDC’s Zika response, said in a press conference. Mosquito control and other preventative actions have been taken in the area. It can cause rare complications such as the paralyzing Guillain-Barre syndrome and very rarely can kill or help kill an already ill patient. The total cases in the state have risen to 283, plus 43 cases involving pregnant women that are not identified by county for reasons of privacy.
Advertisement
Last month, a baby was born with Zika-related birth defects at a New Jersey hospital.
