Florida Governor Rick Scott released a statement today on the new cases, “Following today’s news, I directed the Department of Health to immediately begin contracting with commercial pest control companies to increase spraying and mosquito abatement efforts in the impacted area”. They have expected local transmission of Zika in particular in Southern states such as Florida and Texas, where the Aedes aegypti mosquito that can transmit Zika is most commonly found. Mosquitoes are the main form of transmission of Zika.
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To date, all of the state’s Zika patients contracted the virus after traveling someplace else or had connections to someone who traveled.
State health officials have confirmed the first case of the Zika virus in Cullman County.
The FDA advised blood centers in Miami-Dade and Broward counties to stop collecting while four cases of non-travel related Zika cases are under review.
“All the evidence we have seen indicates that this is mosquito-borne transmission that occurred several weeks ago in several blocks in Miami”, said CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden. While most people who get Zika don’t even know they are sick, infection during pregnancy can cause severe brain-related birth defects, including disastrously small heads.
The mosquito is found in urban parts of the South. But it doesn’t tolerate cool weather and won’t be found in large numbers outside South Florida after the mosquito season peaks in August and September. “It’s real bad, you know”, said a man from Gentilly who did not want to give his name.
Zika is spread via mosquitoes and by sexual contact.
Despite previously warning that pregnant women avoid travel to Puerto Rico, an area of active Zika transmission, the CDC is not now advising pregnant women to avoid traveling to the affected counties in Florida.
The CDC is urging people that live in areas of the country with the type of mosquito that carries the virus to take action now to protect themselves.
Florida has requested $15 million in emergency Zika funding to collect and test mosquitoes and provide Zika preparedness programs, among other things.
Prior to these cases, fourteen infections were sexually transmitted, and one lab worker was stuck with a contaminated needle.
Locally, officials at Carter BloodCare said they have been monitoring the virus for some time and are watching the current situation closely as their governing body decides how it will effect operations.
Brazil has been the hardest hit by the epidemic, with over 1.5 million infected and more than 1,000 cases of microcephaly registered since the outbreak in 2015.
Congress left on a seven-week vacation without giving the Obama administration any of the $1.9 billion it sought for mosquito control, vaccine development and other steps to battle Zika.
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Findley said they won’t be doing anything new just putting more emphasis into public education on protecting yourself against mosquito bites. She adds the key to avoiding Zika is avoiding mosquitoes.
