Share

Local Zika Virus Infection Diagnosed Outside of Affected Area in Miami

Meanwhile, yours and other events have been canceled as businesses wait to hear whether mosquito eradication efforts are successful.

Advertisement

Governor Rick Scott has called upon the Centers for Disease Control for help.

“Our top priority is to protect pregnant women from the potentially devastating harm caused by Zika”, said the CDC’s Dr. Lyle Petersen.

The move comes because of more confirmed cases of the Zika virus passed through mosquito bites in South Florida.

CDC director Tom Frieden said that measures to inhibit mosquito growth in the area were not entirely successful.

“We are doing similar things that we have done in previous years”.

A mosquito bite isn’t the only way Zika can spread-it can also be sexually transmitted. He said there will be 10 “strike teams” of six people that would be sent out to the area where local transmission was identified, who would go door-to-door looking for areas where mosquitoes might breed to eliminate them. Now that people in America have contracted Zika from mosquitoes in the US – it’s too close for comfort.

On Tuesday, Miami-Dade County mosquito control inspectors toting backpack blowers released white clouds of bug spray in Wynwood.

In one lush yard, an inspector tipped over a kiddie pool and a cooler full of water.

The aerial spraying campaign was recommended by the CDC in conjunction with the Florida Health Department to reduce adult mosquito populations that might be capable of carrying the Zika virus.

“It’s very important to understand that those who are experiencing symptoms aren’t necessarily a good estimate of how many people have been infected”, Dr. Ricardo Lopez, an OBGYN with Orlando Health, told CBS News.

Anybody who contracts Zika and returns to Hawaii should take extra care to avoid mosquitoes here and areas where mosquitoes might breed.

And it’s not just Zika they’re focused on, she said.

Advertisement

“I have several pregnant ladies (customers) that are hysterical to say the least”. Anh Ton said it’s in the Davie and Southwest Ranches area, and sexual transmission hasn’t been ruled out.

Transmission electron microscope image of negative-stained Fortaleza-strain Zika virus, isolated from a microcephaly case in Brazil. Credit NIAID