Women who are pregnant and may have traveled to the area since June 15 are urged to talk with their doctor, CDC chief Tom Frieden said.
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Florida has 14 confirmed cases of people with the Zika virus who officials say got it from mosquitoes, but SC health officials say that’s no cause to change the state’s Zika response plans.
Government health officials warned pregnant women Monday to avoid a Zika-stricken part of Miami and told couples who have been there recently to put off having children for at least two months, after the number of people feared infected through mosquito bites in the USA climbed to 14.
As Florida rushed to contain the spread of the country’s first local Zika outbreak Monday, Dallas County officials said they were bracing for the possibility of one here.
Pregnant women should avoid travel to an approximately 1-square-mile area in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami, the CDC said Monday.
After 10 new mosquito-borne cases of Zika virus were discovered in South Florida, healthcare providers around the state and in Brevard County are taking precautions to keep the problem from worsening. Still, men with symptoms of Zika should wait at least six months before trying to impregnate a partner, according to the CDC.
The CDC has confirmed that the Zika virus is responsible for causing severe defects in unborn children, including microcephaly, which leaves babies with abnormally small heads and often with brains that do not develop properly.
Two of the 14 cases involve women and the rest are men. The agency has also advised women who went to the area over the last month and a half to avoid getting pregnant for at least another two months.
Pregnant women are warned against any travel in the Wynwood neighborhood. “There’s a lot of activity going on by the local health authorities of very aggressive mosquito abatement control in order to prevent this spread beyond the Dade County area”.
The White House plans to send a Centers for Disease Control emergency response team to Florida in an attempt to eradicate the virus and the mosquitos that are carrying it.
Before, all USA cases of the virus were said to be travel-related.
Rick Scott has officially filed a request to the federal government for emergency help as 10 additional cases of the Zika virus have been found in the state.
Testing for the Zika virus has been done on more than 2,300 people across the state. Zika may not be confirmed in the women until they’ve given birth, Thompson said.
US officials have said they do not expect broad outbreaks like those in Brazil and in some other Latin American countries.
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While those symptoms are usually mild, the potential outcome for pregnant women is not.
