In the U.S., more than 1,650 Zika infections have been reported, but on Friday the governor of Florida said four people in the southern part of the state were likely to have contracted the Zika virus through bites from local mosquitoes rather than travel overseas.
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Vanessa Gomez, 33, left, with her son Ezra, 2, and her friend Cristy Fernandez, 33, with her 9-month-old- son River, of Miami, walk in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami, Friday, July 29, 2016.
It’s the only part of the state being tested for potential local transmission of Zika, Scott said.
The Florida Department of Health reported four active transmissions of the Zika virus occurring in one small area in Miami-Dade County, just north of downtown.
Christophe and Franziska Lefever were admiring graffiti at an outdoor gallery in a chic Miami arts district on Friday when they learned that the first cases of Zika spread by mosquitoes in the continental United States were contracted in the area. Taking blood donations have been stopped and are tested first for the virus, according to the Food and Drug Administration in all the blood centers of Miami-Dade, Broward and near by areas. On Wednesday, the Health Department announced two more suspected cases in the two counties.
Health officials in San Francisco Friday confirmed a new case of Zika virus, that brings the total to eight.
“Zika is now here”, Dr. Thomas Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a press briefing.
A total of 53 people have been treated in the United Kingdom for the Zika virus, which is predominantly transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
It’s possible there will be other cases of local transmission because people infected with the virus can potentially pass Zika onto a mosquito if they get bitten, which in turn can spread it to someone else.
“This is not just a Florida issue”. Most people infected with Zika won’t have symptoms, but for those who do, the illness is usually mild. However, Zika infection during pregnancy can cause a serious birth defect of the brain called microcephaly and other severe fetal birth defects. So far, the state has not found any Aedes species mosquitoes that carry the virus. However, he also added that the circumstances could change and warnings can be issued if there are more cases of the mosquito-borne virus reported in the area.
It comes after health officials in the United States discovered four cases of the virus, which it is feared were contracted from mosquitoes inside America and are not linked to foreign travel.
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“Pregnant women should consider postponing non-essential travel to affected areas until after the pregnancy”. Three additional cases were then reported on July 15, followed by two other cases last week, with today’s announcement being the most recent, health department officials said. However, up until now the cases were the result of travel to a Zika-infected country or by sexual transmission with a partner who had been to a Zika-infected country.
