The governor said state health authorities had identified 16 cases of Zika that were spread by local mosquitoes and criticized the federal government for failing to get more involved in battling the virus.
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Florida Republican Governor Rick Scott on Sunday accused the federal government of lagging in providing assistance to combat the spread of the Zika virus in a Miami-area neighborhood, the site of the first US transmission of the virus.
Fifteen babies in the US have been born with Zika-related birth defects, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The area of concentration is between Northwest Fifth Avenue and Biscayne Boulevard to Northwest 38th and Northwest 20th streets. Pregnant women should not travel to areas with Zika.
During the first week of infection, Zika virus can be found in the blood and passed from an infected person to another mosquito through mosquito bites.
Microcephaly, a condition where a baby’s head is smaller than average, can range from mild to severe.
In a meeting Tuesday, Seminole County commissioners voted to seek mosquito control funding of $232,705 from the Florida Department of Health. The Daily Mail said the Zika outbreak in Florida is the latest blow to the state’s tourism industry after the shooting in an Orlando nightclub and the death of a two-year-old boy at the jaws of an alligator in Walt Disney World.
The mother of the infant was in Latin America during her pregnancy where she was infected with the virus.
Researchers say they still know little about how the mosquito-borne virus causes birth defects, and what the long-term implications could be for babies born to Zika-infected mothers.
“The saddest outcome of Zika’s health effects often impact the most vulnerable”. This is Leon County’s first travel-related case of Zika and they have been added to the Declaration of Public Health Emergency.
Now there is no vaccine to prevent Zika – which primarily transmits from mosquitoes but can also spread via sex – or cure for it, but the National Institutes of Health is in its second phase of a clinical trial for a vaccine.
Seven women have lost pregnancies due to Zika. “There’s no evidence that there’s any Zika spreading anywhere else in Miami”.
While Zika’s presence in Florida is concerning, expectant moms can do their best to protect themselves firstly by avoiding travel to regions where the virus has been located.
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Earlier this year, Scott set aside $26.2 million to deal with Zika but has come under criticism for allocating too little.
