Miami Beach has certain characteristics that may make it more hard for public health officials to fight the virus’ spread, Frieden said today.
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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) quickly issued a new travel advisory, telling pregnant women to avoid the designated area of Miami Beach, in addition to Wynwood.
MIAMI-Florida officials said on Friday they have identified a new area of Zika virus transmission through local mosquitoes in a small area in Miami Beach, the second area in Miami-Dade county where the Zika virus is spreading.
“We’re in the midst of mosquito season and expect more Zika infections in the days and months to come”, said CDC Director Tom Frieden. “They’ve seen a reduction in the population of mosquitoes but we’re still seeing transmission”, he said.
Gov. Rick Scott said there were five cases of Zika transmitted by mosquitoes in Miami Beach. The tourists are residents of New York, Texas and Taiwan. “We are still in the process of determining when the first case of Zika appeared in Miami Beach”.
Scott said the new Zika transmission zone in Miami beach is less than 1.5 square miles.
The Florida Department of Health cleared 14 blocks of Wynwood as Zika-free but CDC’s advisory for downtown Miami still remains in effect. A risky birth defect associated with Zika virus infection during pregnancy is microcephaly, a condition in which a baby is born with a smaller head and brain in comparison to normal births. In Miami-Dade, the agency has identified at least four cases of apparently mosquito-borne Zika that occurred outside of the two areas identified for active transmissions.
That’s why Zika prevention messages in the airports and cruise ports serving South Florida, home to the only locally acquired cases in the mainland USA, are critical, public heath experts say.
Already battling the virus in another part of the city, officials believe cases have been transmitted in the South Beach district popular with tourists.
Florida “will do everything we can to help pregnant women all across our state”. Dozens of infections have been traced to this neighborhood as public health officials wage a seemingly losing war to stop its spread. That has also been linked to the Zika virus, though doctors say mild cases can be treated. This time it’s in the tourist hot spot Miami Beach.
Officials at Art Basel Miami Beach and other upcoming events cautiously expressed confidence in the region’s mosquito control efforts.
She says she’s not concerned about the Zika virus. At least 68 pregnant women have been infected.
Possible infections outside Wynwood and Miami Beach also are being investigated. With Congress unable to reach agreement on a Zika funding package, Scott also asked President Barack Obama for an additional 10,000 Zika prevention kits. That prompted federal health authorities to urge pregnant women not to visit the area, the first time they ever had warned against travel to a part of the continental United States because of the outbreak of an infectious disease. It’s the female mosquito that bites and it’s active during the day. Mosquito spraying will have to stick to the ground by Miami Beach.
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Scott and Florida Surgeon General Dr.
