“This morning we learned that four people in our state likely have the Zika virus as a result of a mosquito bite”, Rick Scott said. At this time, health officials believe the virus is contained to a small area, but they are going to keep investigating. “At present, only a zone of about 1 square mile in Miami-Dade County is considered at risk of active transmission”.
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It seems like everyone in the state of Florida is talking about the mosquito-born illness, but what exactly they’re saying about Zika is very different.
He said that while health officials have reported four infections, there are probably more that have not been diagnosed, and that people should not be surprised if mosquitoes are soon found to be spreading Zika in Louisiana and Texas as well.
The Zika virus can be much more risky for pregnant women.
“While no mosquitoes have tested positive for the Zika virus, DOH is aggressively testing people in this area to ensure there are no other cases”, Scott said.
In the United Kingdom, 53 people have now been treated for the Zika infection, which can cause a major birth defect called microcephaly in the babies of pregnant women.
Dr. Lyle Petersen of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explained the cycle of infection to the Associated Press, saying it “starts with a person infected with Zika-presumably a traveler who recently returned home with the virus still lurking in his or her bloodstream”, at which point a mosquito in the United States bites that person, gets Zika from their blood, and then “spreads the virus by biting someone else”. “Sometimes you don’t know where these people were infected”.
“As of July 27, 2016, some 67 countries and territories have reported evidence of mosquito-borne Zika virus transmission since 2007 (64 of these countries and territories have reported evidence of mosquito-borne Zika virus transmission since 2015)”, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.
When traveling to Zika infected areas, take precautionary steps to protect yourself by wearing long-sleeved shirts and long trousers; stay in places with air conditioning or have window and air screens, or sleep under a mosquito bed net.
North-eastern Brazil has been the main area of concern, but more than 20 other countries have now been affected by the virus. To date, CDC has provided Florida more than $8 million in Zika-specific funding and about $27 million in emergency preparedness funding that can be used for Zika response efforts.
The Zika threat could be a blow to Florida’s $67 billion tourism industry, which was already grappling with a decline in foreign tourists.
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“If invited, we’ve got a team ready to go”, he said.
