In Miami-Dade and Broward, which have the most confirmed Zika infections in Florida, state health investigators and medical epidemiologists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are interviewing residents in areas where the four infected people live, work and spend their free time.
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OneBlood, Florida’s biggest blood collection center, said it will begin testing all of its collections for Zika virus, effective July 29, using an investigational screening test and that it is working as quickly as possible to comply with the FDA’s request.
The FDA also recommended that neighboring counties implement the same precautions “to help maintain the safety of the blood supply as soon as possible”.
South Florida’s largest blood supplier will begin screening all donations for the Zika virus on Friday, two days after federal regulators asked for collections to stop immediately.
Health officials have warned the virus is likely to spread to the continental US, although they’ve said any outbreaks are likely to be relatively small, given Americans’ widespread use of air conditioning and window screens. Zika, which can cause birth defects, is spreading more widely in USA territories, with almost 4,700 cases in Puerto Rico alone. Despite Florida’s Zika concerns, the CDC said Thursday they are not adding South Florida to the list of restricted travel areas for pregnant women.
For more information on Zika and for resources on how you can protect yourself, call the Passaic County Division of Mosquito Control at 973-305-5754. It’s the region where the Zika-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes thrive in the greatest concentrations.
According to reports, the confirmation on whether Zika is being carried by mosquitoes locally will be made after scientists survey houses and people within a 150-meter radius of the cases.
Dutch researchers are reporting a case of miscarriage tied to maternal infection with the mosquito-borne Zika virus. State officials are not releasing the location of pregnancy-involved Zika virus cases. It would be the first instance of such a case within the United States.
While the symptoms of Zika are usually not severe, the disease has been linked to microcephaly in babies born to pregnant women who contract the virus.
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In rare cases, the virus can be transmitted through sexual contact with an infected person and from blood transfusions. Florida officials say they are still looking into the cases and have not come to a conclusion.
