The Zika virus is found in tropical locales with large mosquito populations.
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In a well-kept neighborhood in Miami with lush gardens, Larry Smart, a county mosquito control inspector, holds a turkey baster up to the light. “If you look closely, you’ll see some moving fast”.
Despite the increases, a city of Jacksonville spokeswoman said they’re not increasing sprays. Smart uses the turkey baster to sample standing water in hard-to-reach places.
There have been no confirmed cases of mosquito-borne transmission of Zika in the United States. The CDC said Zika illness is general mild – coming with a rash, fever and joint pain.
Friday, St. Johns County picked up another travel-related Zika case, bringing its total to three cases. “A lot of people don’t realize that a plant like that is renowned for mosquitoes”. Mosquito granules are also available at home and garden stores.
“We are at the front lines of this situation with Zika right now”, Miami-Dade Mosquito Control Operations Manager Chalmers Vasquez said during a press conference Friday at the division’s headquarters in Doral. The state health department has interviewed and tested about 200 people as part of the investigation so far.
City health care providers have tested 2,000 pregnant women who have traveled to Zika-affected areas, and 41 of them have been confirmed to have the virus, health officials say.
At a media briefing streamed live online today, Bassett said she learned of the case yesterday and that the baby was born this month. “Just to have patience”.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it will give Arkansas $5.6 million to fight the Zika virus. “They need to know that there’s no vaccine for Zika virus infection, so the only way to really prevent infection is prevent getting bitten by mosquitos”. Miami took similar measures in 2010 when the city saw a number of dengue cases. However, Zika infection during pregnancy may cause microcephaly and other severe brain defects in the developing fetus.
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the most common species carrying the virus, are plentiful here, and summer is a critical time.
“We’ve been expecting a travel-associated case of Zika virus and believe more are likely as people travel to and from areas with active Zika transmission”, said Knox County Health Department Director Dr. Martha Buchanan.
Beadling said the virus could indirectly impact everyone.
Will South Florida become the nation’s Zika ground zero?
“We have lots of mosquitos here, but fortunately we don’t have the mosquitos that will transmit Zika virus infection, so that’s the good news”, he said.
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“It’s a needle in a haystack”, Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, dean of tropical medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, told NBC News. Other uncertainties surround the incubation period of the virus and how Zika interacts with other viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes, such as dengue.
