Around 1,300 cases of Zika have been recorded in the continent of US and in Hawaii, but none of these have reported to be caused by a mosquito bite. As per Vasquez, even if the city closed contacts with the Caribbean and Latin America, the Miami International Airport receives everyday people who are returning from those places, and there are big chances the virus has entered the territory throughout them.
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In New York City, officials said more than 41 pregnant women have tested positive for the Zika virus, which can cause microcephaly, a condition in which the child is born with a head that is smaller than normal.
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.
“To date, approximately 200 people have been interviewed and tested as part of the department’s investigations and we await additional lab results”, the release said.
So far, the 11 cases of Zika confirmed in Polk County have all been travel-related. Residents and visitors are urged to participate in requests for blood and urine samples by the department in the areas of investigation.
Now there is no vaccine for Zika, however, research is underway, health department officials said.
Over the past week, Florida’s mosquito control efforts have been focused on one particular neighborhood.
“While not surprising, given the travel trends of our global city, this case is a strong reminder of the tragic consequences of the Zika virus”. There are now two possible cases of local transmission, one in Miami and the other at Broward County.
New York City Department of Health officials said the baby’s mother was infected after traveling to an area with ongoing Zika transmission. A medical epidemiologist from the U.S CDC, Marc Fischer, arrived on Friday in Florida to support in the department’s investigation with mapping and testing methodologies.
The public Brazilian laboratory Fundacion Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) announced Thursday that researchers found the presence of the Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito infected by the Zika virus in three out of 80 groups of mosquitoes analyzed up until now. Forty-one of these women were found to have the virus. He’s concerned Zika may already be established in mosquitoes in Florida, Texas and other states along the Gulf Coast.
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So far, scientists have said the most frequent transmission is by the bite of infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, a type of mosquito that is is common throughout Florida.
