Overall, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 351 Zika cases in Florida, 336 of them involving people who traveled to the state from elsewhere, the state Health Department said.
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Tourists visit the Wynwood Walls, a popular outdoor graffiti exhibit that also falls in the approximately one-mile area where one woman and three men contracted the Zika virus locally, in Miami, Florida July 29, 2016.
At last check, Florida health officials said they had tested more than 200 people in Miami-Dade and Broward counties since early July.
According to DHH, health care providers should ask pregnant patients seeking prenatal care a series of questions including whether they have traveled to Zika-infected areas or have been in contact with someone who has returned from those destinations. Mosquito abatement and reduction activities are also taking place.
Mosquito control sprayed parts of Broward County Wednesday in an effort to stem the spread of the Zika virus in South Florida.
With growing concern over the threat from mosquitoes that transmit the Zika virus, the federal government boosted assistance to CT by $400,000 Tuesday, bringing total grants from the Centers for Disease Control to almost $1.3 million. OneBlood is now screening all blood donations for Zika.
“The only cases of Microcephaly, which is small heads, have come from Brazil, they have not come from any other country”, Dr. Cackovic said.
Alarm bells are going off after the number of Zika cases from local mosquitoes more than tripled – from four to 14 – in less than a week.
The first Mahoning County case was reported in June.
Anyone can carry the virus, which may only cause mild symptoms.
But Cindy McCabe, the owner of Bethany Travel/Dream Vacations in Millsboro said she has not heard of any concerns from patrons traveling to regions with a high presence of mosquitos.
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DPH Commissioner Dr. Raul Pino said, “There is so much we have yet to learn about Zika virus, but we do know that it can cause lifelong, devastating birth defects in some children born to mothers infected with Zika”.
